Photonic and plasmonic architectures can concentrate the electric field through resonances, increase the light optical path by strong diffraction and exhibit many other interesting optical phenomena. The use of these structures within actual devices will be most beneficial for enhanced light absorption solar cells, photodetectors and improved new sensors and light emitters. However, emerging optoelectronic devices rely on large area and low cost fabrication routes to cut manufacturing costs and increase the production throughput. In our group we use the technique of soft nanoimprinting lithography, where a soft elastomeric pre-patterned stamp is used to mold unconventional materials such as conductive polymers, cellulose or metal colloids or perovskite nanocrystals. The resulting photonic architectures combine the photonic properties of the pattern with those of the original material resulting in a new generation of inexpensive photonic components such as biodegradable photonic films, highly efficient SERS platforms for sensing, improved efficiency solar cells and more.
