Untwisting the polarization properties of light reflected by scarab beetles

Luke T. McDonald; Ewan D. Finlayson; Peter Vukusic

doi:10.1117/12.2079496

11 March 2015 Untwisting the polarization properties of light reflected by scarab beetles

Luke T. McDonald, Ewan D. Finlayson, Peter Vukusic

Proceedings Volume 9341, Bioinspired, Biointegrated, Bioengineered Photonic Devices III; 93410K (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2079496
Event: SPIE BiOS, 2015, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

The spectral and angle-dependent optical properties of two scarab beetle species belonging to the genus Chrysina are presented. The species display broadband reflectivity and selectively reflect left-circularly polarized light. We use electron microscopy to detail the left-handed, twisted lamellar structure present in these biological systems and imaging scatterometry to characterize their bidirectional reflectance distribution function. We show that the broadband nature of the beetles’ reflectance originates due to the range of pitch dimensions found in the structure.

Citation Download Citation

Luke T. McDonald, Ewan D. Finlayson, and Peter Vukusic "Untwisting the polarization properties of light reflected by scarab beetles", Proc. SPIE 9341, Bioinspired, Biointegrated, Bioengineered Photonic Devices III, 93410K (11 March 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2079496

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