Together with researchers at Stanford University, we have developed an ultra-thin photonic skin that can change its surface structure and color independently of each other, like an octopus skin. In the laboratory, the adaptation to different colored backgrounds can already be demonstrated on five to ten square millimeters.
»A step towards living, adaptive technology«
Junior Professor Nicholas Güsken researches and teaches in the Department of Quantumphotonics & Optoelectronics at Paderborn University.
The technology could be used in sensors for soft robotics or smart textiles, for example. It combines methods from semiconductor manufacturing, biological polymers, and physical concepts such as optical resonances in thin films. Before the first displays with an octopus surface can be used, we still need solutions for the scalability and controllability of the photonic skin. In the long term, AI-controlled systems could adapt materials autonomously in real time—a step towards living, adaptive technology.