The BioNEMS group, led by Tony Jun Huang, James Henderson Assiatant Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, demonstrated a new class of plasmonic switches driven by light. The switches utilize the photoinduced phase transition of azobenzene-doped liquid crystals to alter the localized surface plasmon resonances of gold nanodisk arrays. These switches contribute to the emerging field of plasmonics, and will prove useful in applications such as high-density optical storage devices, optical filters, and plasmonic circuits. The other contributors include post-doctor, Vincent K. S. Hsiao, and two graduate students, Yuebing Zheng and Bala Krishna Juluri.

This research work "Light-Driven Plasmonic Switches Based on Au Nanodisk Arrays and Photoresponsive Liquid Crystals" has been published in the 17 Septembr 2008 issue of Advanced Materials (as the cover article).