What is KAIST Light-Driven Shape-Memory Alloy Meta-Morphing Structures?

These are shape-memory alloy structures that change shape when exposed to light rather than through direct electrical or resistive heating, using an embedded photothermal effect in which absorbed light energy heats the alloy past its transition temperature and triggers a shift between programmed shapes. These meta-morphing structures are engineered so different regions of the material transform in a coordinated sequence, allowing a single flat or simple structure to reconfigure into complex three-dimensional geometries under targeted illumination.