Control of the chemiluminescence spectrum with porous Bragg mirrors

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a solid-state, tunable chemiluminescent device using a porous 1D photonic crystal to control emission spectrum, suitable for lab-on-a-chip and disposable sensing applications.

Contribution

It introduces a solution-processed, porous Bragg mirror infiltrated with chemiluminescent reagents to modulate emission spectra via photonic band gap engineering.

Findings

Chemiluminescence spectrum can be tuned by the photonic band gap.

Device is compatible with lab-on-a-chip technology.

Potential for disposable sensing applications.

Abstract

Tunable, battery free light emission is demonstrated in a solid state device that is compatible with lab on a chip technology and easily fabricated via solution processing techniques. A porous one dimensional (1D) photonic crystal (also called Bragg stack or mirror) is infiltrated by chemiluminescence rubrene-based reagents. The Bragg mirror has been designed to have the photonic band gap overlapping with the emission spectrum of rubrene. The chemiluminescence reaction occurs in the intrapores of the photonic crystal and the emission spectrum of the dye is modulated according to the photonic band gap position. This is a compact, powerless emitting source that can be exploited in disposable photonic chip for sensing and point of care applications.