This book focuses on photoswitches. The objective of the book is to introduce researchers and
graduate course students who are interested in photon-working switches not only to the
fundamentals but also to the latest research being carried out in this field. Light can reach a
target substrate without any physical contact to deliver energy. The energy can induce changes
in the structure of the molecules included in the substrate so that its properties and
functions are made switchable by light irradiation. When a substrate is able to revert to its
original state this system can be regarded as a photon-working switch. The terms
photon-working switches or photoswitches are almost equivalent in meaning to photochromism
however they focus on the switching of functions of chemical species rather than their
reversible transformation. Most of the authors of this volume are members of PHENICS an
international research group on organic molecular photoswitches composed of research
institutions from France Japan Russia China and Germany. Since its inception in 2008
PHENICS has promoted active research to develop the field. This book commemorates the group's
eighth year of collaborative research.
