The First Molecule‐Based Blue‐Light Optical‐Dielectric Switching Material in Both Hybrid Bulk Crystal and Flexible Thin Film Forms

Abstract Three Japanese scientists are awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of a new energy‐efficient light source, the blue light‐emitting diode, which has great potential in photoelectric applications. However, exploring excellent blue‐light materials is still a bigger challenge than red/green ones, especially those with optical‐dielectric dual channels of dielectricity and photoluminescence, which are rarely reported and gradually become the main research objects and nodi in the information industry. Herein, the first molecular blue‐light switching material, (4‐methoxybenzylaminum)₂ZnCl₄ (1) with many advantages, such as light weight, easy, and environment‐friendly processing, controllability, flexibility, and so on, performs optical and dielectric dual switching simultaneously in a single‐molecule integrated module. And the multifunctional switching ON/OFF channels can be manipulated in the bulk crystal or unidirectional film by applying an external thermal signal, which shows a high signal‐to‐noise ratio of 2:1 and a strong fatigue resistance. Besides, the dense film maintains the structural retention characteristic after more than 10 000 times of folding over 90°, which is the mark of its real genius as an ultraflexible blue‐light device. This finding will promote the application of blue‐light materials in optoelectronic devices and open up a new era of molecule‐based blue‐light switchable multifunctional materials.