Electric-field-tuned color in photonic crystal elastomers

Electrically tuned photonic crystals are produced by applying fields across shear-assembled elastomeric polymer opal thin films. At increasing voltages, the polymer opal films stretch biaxially under Maxwell stress, deforming the nanostructure and producing marked color changes. This quadratic electro-optic tuning of the photonic bandgap is repeatable over many cycles, switches within 100 ms, and bridges the gap between electro-active materials and photonic crystals.