Photonic Structures: Hierarchical Nanoparticle Bragg Mirrors: Tandem and Gradient Architectures (Small 24/2011)

The cover picture shows a new kind of broadband optical reflector made by bottom-up self-assembly of nanoparticle metal-oxide multilayers fashioned as hierarchical nanoporous tandem and gradient Bragg mirrors. The optical properties of this genre of Bragg mirror can be passively tuned through variations of the composition of the nanoparticle metal-oxide layers and actively tuned through reversible adsorption–desorption of different molecular species in the nanopores, thereby providing myriad opportunities for the management of light in solar cells, photocatalysts, and photonic nose sensors in novel ways. For more information, please read the Full Paper “Hierarchical Nanoparticle Bragg Mirrors: Tandem and Gradient Architectures” by G. A. Ozin and co-workers, beginning on page 3465. Artwork credit: Wendong Wang.