Selective grating obtained by dye microstructuration based on local photobleaching using a laser writer.

We propose a method to pattern organic optically active materials based on local photobleaching for creating a wavelength-selective grating. Usually, photobleaching is considered a limitation for an organic emitter. Here, this property is exploited to locally suppress dye emission and absorption at the microscale with an abrupt interface and no changes in layer thickness. Periodic patterns were fabricated and exhibit diffraction only at a 590 nm wavelength with a spectral selectivity of 11 nm. Based on laser writer flexibility and efficiency, this study shows the potential of local photobleaching for applications such as wavelength-selective grating fabrication. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America