TY - JOUR
T1 - Living photonic crystals
T2 - Butterfly scales Nanostructure and optical properties
AU - Bíró, László Péter
AU - Kértész, Krisztián
AU - Vértesy, Zófia
AU - Márk, Géza
AU - Balint, Zsolt
AU - Lousse, Virginie
AU - Vigneron, Jean-Pol
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - The photonic crystal type nanostructures in the scales of male individuals of two butterfly species: Cyanophrys remus and Albulina metallica were investigated by electron microscopy and reflectance measurements. While the colors of C. remus arise from structures with rigorous long range (dorsal) or short range (ventral) three dimensional (3D) order, the colors of A. metallica are produced by quasi-ordered, layered structures. Surprisingly, the most efficient photonic band gap reflector is the quasi-ordered structure giving the shiny, yellowish green color of the ventral hind wings of A. metallica. All four investigated structures are based on a moderate refractive index contrast between chitin (n = 1.58) and air, the various structures achieve a wide range of biological functions.
AB - The photonic crystal type nanostructures in the scales of male individuals of two butterfly species: Cyanophrys remus and Albulina metallica were investigated by electron microscopy and reflectance measurements. While the colors of C. remus arise from structures with rigorous long range (dorsal) or short range (ventral) three dimensional (3D) order, the colors of A. metallica are produced by quasi-ordered, layered structures. Surprisingly, the most efficient photonic band gap reflector is the quasi-ordered structure giving the shiny, yellowish green color of the ventral hind wings of A. metallica. All four investigated structures are based on a moderate refractive index contrast between chitin (n = 1.58) and air, the various structures achieve a wide range of biological functions.
U2 - 10.1016/j.msec.2006.09.043
DO - 10.1016/j.msec.2006.09.043
M3 - Article
SN - 0928-4931
VL - 27
SP - 941
EP - 946
JO - Materials science and engineering. C, Biomimetic materials, sensors and systems
JF - Materials science and engineering. C, Biomimetic materials, sensors and systems
IS - 5-8
ER -