Photonic structures in biology
@article{Vukusic2003PhotonicSI, title={Photonic structures in biology}, author={Peter Vukusic and J. Roy Sambles}, journal={Nature}, year={2003}, volume={424}, pages={852-855} }
Millions of years before we began to manipulate the flow of light using synthetic structures, biological systems were using nanometre-scale architectures to produce striking optical effects. An astonishing variety of natural photonic structures exists: a species of Brittlestar uses photonic elements composed of calcite to collect light, Morpho butterflies use multiple layers of cuticle and air to produce their striking blue colour and some insects use arrays of elements, known as nipple arrays…
1,638 Citations
Photonic structures in biology
- Physics
- 2007
For only a few decades we are able to create synthetic photonic crystals. Nature however, has produced nanometer-scale structures that manipulate light for over millions of years. A well known…
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- 2011
The strikingly colorful world of insects is in large part the result of light interacting with periodically organized biopolymeric structures incorporated into wings, hairs and exoskeletons. Such…
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- BiologyJournal of Optics
- 2019
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- Physics
- 2009
Photonic crystals are periodic dielectric composite structures that affect the propagation of light. The existence of complex photonic crystals structures in Nature has boosted research in the field…
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- 2018
Structural colours arise from the interaction of visible light with nano-structured materials. The occurrence of such structures in nature has been known for over a century, but it is only in the…
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The experimental and theoretical approaches of the optical response visible region were studied to understand the underlying mechanism behind the light–matter interaction on the wings of these Colombian butterflies, and the results can guide the design of novel devices that use iridescence as angular filters or even for cosmetic purposes.
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- 2012
In the biological world the living organisms have exploited photonic structures to produce striking structural coloration since the Cambrian period. In recent years, structural colors and associated…
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