Patent ID: 7616376

Claim:
A method of wavelength tuning a composite material, comprising: a) producing an ordered array of first constituents having a first refractive index embedded within a cross-linked metallopolymer network having a second refractive index different than the first refractive index, the ordered array of first constituents having a lattice spacing giving rise to Bragg diffraction when the composite material is illuminated, the cross-linked metallopolymer network being comprised of a polymer backbone including metal atoms chemically integrated into the polymer backbone and connected together directly or through linking units, the cross-linked polymer network having an electronic configuration dependant on the metal atoms, the metal atoms being switchable between more than one electronic configuration, the cross-linked metallopolymer network being expandable and contractible in response to controlled uptake and expulsion, respectively, of a selected fluid by the cross-linked metallopolymer network so that when the cross-linked polymer network takes up the selected fluid it expands which shifts a Bragg diffraction wavelength to longer wavelengths and when the cross-linked polymer network expels the selected fluid it contracts which shifts the Bragg diffraction wavelength to shorter wavelengths, the amount of fluid uptake and expulsion being controlled by controlling the electronic configuration of the cross-linked polymer network; and b) switching the electronic configuration of the cross-linked metallopolymer network so that the cross-linked polymer network changes dimensions and modulates the lattice spacing of the ordered array of first constituents, which shifts the Bragg diffraction wavelength to a pre-selected wavelength.