Molecular Interactions Control Quantum Chain Reactions toward Distinct Photoresponsive Properties of Molecular Crystals

In this work, we fabricated four
diphenylcyclopropenone (DPCP)
crystals, which involved various molecular interactions encoded in
individual molecular structures 1–4. On the basis of crystalline structural analysis and photoresponsive
characterization of the resultant single-crystal microribbons 1–4, we demonstrated that the magnitude
of molecular interactions could effectively control the quantum chain
reaction and the photoresponsive property of the DPCP crystals. The
microribbons 1 and 2 having weak molecular
interactions exhibited an efficient chain reaction and large mechanical
photoresponses (i.e., photomelting and photodeforming), whereas the
microribbons 3 and 4 with strong molecular
interactions exhibited no chain reaction and mechanical morphology
change. Our work presented a new way to achieve molecular crystals
with enhanced mechanical photoresponses.