Fabrication and dual-wavelength characterization of a binary mixture of light-responsive polymeric nanocapsules

Two different types of azo dye-doped liquid crystal mixtures were separately nano-confined and characterized and then dispersed in the same host matrix to enhance the wavelength tunability of the laser-induced transparency of the fabricated polymeric thin film nanocomposites. The obtained results indicated that the transmitted intensity can be controlled separately by applying dual-wavelength pump lasers irradiation based-on reorientation of liquid crystal mesogens followed by trans-cis photoisomerization of the different azo dye dopants inside the core of the polymeric nanocapsules. Since the fabricated thin films qualify the demand for improvement of laser-induced tunability, it is feasible to use the introduced nanocomposite as a smart light-responsive thin film layer that can be widely implemented in all-optical tunable nanophotonics.