Photoswitching of diarylethene using bisazomethine dye

The photoswitching behavior of a diarylethene/glass/bisazomethine (DE/glass/BAE) three-layered structure was investigated. Upon UV light irradiation of 300 nm, DE in the three-layered structure was isomerized by a cyclization photochromic reaction and its color changed from red to deep red. BAE is a blue–violet compound with strong absorption in the region from 400 to 600 nm and fluorescence from 550 to 700 nm. When UV radiation having a wavelength of 300 nm was irradiated on the BAE layer, DE underwent a cycloreversion photochromic reaction, and its color changed from deep red to red due to fluorescence from BAE at 604 nm. Exposure of the BAE layer to visible light did not induce the decoloration of DE because visible light induces the cycloreversion of DE was absorbed by BAE. We demonstrated that DE/glass/BAE three-layered structure has a potential application for photoswitching using a single UV light source.