A photochromic material-based platform for high-precision UV light detection and erasable optical information storage

Abstract

The ultraviolet (UV) light detection has important applications in photochemistry, material aging, plant cultivation, and integrated circuit lithography. And photochromic materials have attracted more and more attention in technological applications due to their different physical and chemical properties before and after irradiation with a specific excitation light source. Therefore, it is a very interesting work to realize the detection of ultraviolet light intensity based on photochromic materials with good response to ultraviolet light. Here, we design a dual excitation detection mode based on the inorganic photochromic material SrHfO3: Ho3+, and propose a simple and high-precision UV intensity detection method. The doping of Ho3+ ions optimizes the photochromic effect of the SrHfO3 host material and also enables the material to integrate the up-conversion and the downshifting luminescence modes. Different luminescence quenching degrees appear in response to photochromic effect between up-conversion and the downshifting luminescence modes, thereby constructing a dual excitation mode for high-precision UV light intensity detection. In addition, flexible films and 3D micro-rod arrays using the as-obtained photochromic material were designed and fabricated a photochromism platform toward the implementation of optical information storage. This work not only provides a photochromic platform for optical data storage, but also opens a way for simplification of UV intensity detection with high accuracy.