Patterning through Controlled Submolecular Motion: Rotaxane‐Based Switches and Logic Gates that Function in Solution and Polymer Films

Shedding light on a mechanical event: Films of a polymer–rotaxane conjugate were cast on quartz slides, the films were covered with aluminum masks, and the unmasked areas were exposed to vapors of DMSO. The solvent induces a change in position of the macrocycle in the molecular shuttle that leads to “on” states of the rotaxane fluorescence in the unmasked areas (see image).