Alignment control of a cyanine dye using a mesoporous silica film with uniaxially aligned mesochannels

The feasibility of alignment control of low-molecular-weight guest species by controlling the orientation of mesochannels in a mesoporous silica host has been shown for the first time; spectroscopically anisotropic absorption behaviour of a cyanine dye was observed upon its incorporation into the mesochannels of a mesoporous silica film with uniaxially aligned porous structure, proving that the preferred alignment of the dye molecules was achieved on a macroscopic scale.