Biologically inspired optics: analog semiconductor model of the beetle exoskeleton

Kaia Buhl; Zachary Roth; Pradeep Srinivasan; Raymond Rumpf; Eric Johnson

doi:10.1117/12.794313

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11 August 2008 Biologically inspired optics: analog semiconductor model of the beetle exoskeleton

Kaia Buhl, Zachary Roth, Pradeep Srinivasan, Raymond Rumpf, Eric Johnson

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Proceedings Volume 7057, The Nature of Light: Light in Nature II; 705707 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.794313
Event: Optical Engineering + Applications, 2008, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Evolution in nature has produced through adaptation a wide variety of distinctive optical structures in many life forms. For example, pigment differs greatly from the observed color of most beetles because their exoskeletons contain multilayer coatings. The green beetle is disguised in a surrounding leaf by having a comparable reflection spectrum as the leaves. The Manuka and June beetle have a concave structure where light incident at any angle on the concave structures produce matching reflection spectra. In this work, semiconductor processing methods were used to duplicate the structure of the beetle exoskeleton. This was achieved by combining analog lithography with a multilayer deposition process. The artificial exoskeleton, 3D concave multilayer structure, demonstrates a wide field of view with a unique spectral response. Studying and replicating these biologically inspired nanostructures may lead to new knowledge for fabrication and design of new and novel nano-photonic devices, as well as provide valuable insight to how such phenomenon is exploited.

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Kaia Buhl, Zachary Roth, Pradeep Srinivasan, Raymond Rumpf, and Eric Johnson "Biologically inspired optics: analog semiconductor model of the beetle exoskeleton", Proc. SPIE 7057, The Nature of Light: Light in Nature II, 705707 (11 August 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.794313

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