Tunable cavity modes and light-pulse propagation in diarylethene-based photo-switchable polymeric microcavities

Light responsive devices employing molecular photo-switches are interesting for displays and dynamic light filtering. In this work, polymeric microcavities embedding a layer of photochromic compound have been studied by means of the transfer matrix method. Different polymers, such as poly vinyl carbazole, poly styrene and cellulose acetate, have been used. A microcavity that includes random one-dimensional photonic structures sandwiching the photochromic layer has also been studied. Propagation of light pulses through the microcavities has been analysed.