Adding colors to polydimethylsiloxane by embedding vertical silicon nanowires

Abstract

We demonstrate that embedding silicon nanowires into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) presents a means for adding color, i.e., provides filtering at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Silicon nanowires are etched from a silicon wafer and transferred to a PDMS film. Each measured transmission spectrum exhibits a dip at a wavelength determined by the nanowire radius. This is in agreement with electromagnetic simulations, which also help elucidate the roles of scattering and absorption in the observed results. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4766944