The rapid growth of photonic technologies has revealed fundamental limitations with photon–electron interconversion, including energy loss, thermal noise and reduced processing speeds. All‑optical switching offers a solution, but remains limited by the scarcity of materials that combine strong nonlinear responses, ultrafast dynamics and stability. Here, we report a new materials platform based on chiral Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) which are designed to exploit light–matter interactions for energy‑efficient, ultrafast optical switching.
Building on our recent critical review of chiral MOFs for photonics,1 we demonstrate how crystallographic chirality, modular framework design and periodic chromophore organisation enable systematic control over linear and nonlinear chiroptical responses. These insights establish chiral MOFs as intrinsically non‑centrosymmetric materials ideally suited to second‑order nonlinear phenomena and magneto‑optical effects.
We further translate these design principles into functional switching mechanisms. Molecular‑level studies on redox‑active binaphthylene systems reveal reversible chiroptical switching driven by electric‑field‑induced redox processes, providing quantitative benchmarks for switching speed, reversibility and dissymmetry.2 Extending this behaviour into extended solids, we also present photoswitchable chiroptical responses in camphorate‑based chiral MOFs, where photo‑induced mixed‑valence states enable reversible modulation of circular dichroism within a robust crystalline framework.3
This work positions chiral MOFs as a versatile and scalable platform for next‑generation all‑optical devices relevant to photonic computing, sensing and energy‑efficient information processing.