Molecular crystals carry a great potential as new soft smart materials, with a plethora of recent examples overcoming the major obstacle of mechanical flexibility, and this research direction holds enormous potential to revolutionize optics, electronics, medicine, and space exploration. However, shaping organic crystals into desired shapes and sizes remains a major practical challenge due to the lack of control over the crystallization process, and the difficulties in mechanical post‐processing without introduction of defects that are usually imparted by their soft nature. Here we present an innovative approach that employs photochemical processing for precise and nondestructive cutting of a molecular crystal. Our proposed method uses light to post‐process crystals of the desired size and shape, similar to using light to cut other materials. This reaction induces strain, ensuring sharp cleavage without the need for melting or other processes. We further demonstrate the potential of this approach by producing crystals of arbitrary size, which can be used as controllable optical waveguides. Among other potential applications, this method can be used to prepare dynamic crystals, particularly those with aspect ratios crucial for mechanical deformation, such as flexible electronics, soft robotics, and sensing.

中文翻译：

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分子晶体的精确光化学后处理


分子晶体作为新型软智能材料具有巨大潜力，最近的大量例子克服了机械柔性的主要障碍，这一研究方向在彻底改变光学、电子、医学和太空探索方面具有巨大潜力。然而，由于缺乏对结晶过程的控制，以及机械后处理过程中的困难，在不引入通常由其柔软性质赋予的缺陷的情况下，将有机晶体塑造成所需的形状和尺寸仍然是一个重大的实际挑战。在这里，我们提出了一种创新方法，该方法采用光化学处理对分子晶体进行精确和无损切割。我们提出的方法使用光对所需尺寸和形状的晶体进行后处理，类似于使用光切割其他材料。该反应会引起应变，确保尖锐的裂解，而无需熔融或其他过程。我们通过生产任意大小的晶体进一步证明了这种方法的潜力，这些晶体可以用作可控的光波导。在其他潜在应用中，该方法可用于制备动态晶体，特别是那些具有对机械变形至关重要的纵横比的晶体，例如柔性电子学、软机器人和传感。