Strain-controlled optical transmittance tuning of three-dimensional carbon nanotube architectures

Three-dimensional (3D) architectures based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been applied to fields ranging from aerospace to biomedicine. In this report, the fabrication of 3D CNT patterns having various orientations has been described. These 3D architectures acted both as efficient optical switching devices and barriers to protect against laser-induced damage. Such devices can switch from transparent to opaque upon application of a very small strain (<0.4%). Optical switching depends heavily on the orientations of the anisotropic patterns. The orientation dependence of 3D CNT architecture mechanical properties was also studied experimentally and further supported by finite element method analysis.