Discovery of ordered and quasi-ordered photonic crystal structures in the scales of the beetle Eupholus magnificus.

The outer wing casings (elytra) of the weevil Eupholus magnificus are marked by yellow and blue bands. We have investigated the scales covering the elytra by using microspectrophotometry, imaging scatterometry, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform analysis. We demonstrate that the scales in the yellow elytral bands comprise highly ordered 3D photonic crystal structures, whereas the scales of the blue bands comprise quasi-ordered 3D photonic structures. Both systems, highly contrasting in their periodic order, create approximately angle-independent colour appearances in the far-field. The co-existence of these two contrasting forms of 3D structural order in the same single species is certainly uncommon in natural biological systems and has not been reported in the photonic literature.

[1]  Salvatore Torquato,et al.  Complete band gaps in two-dimensional photonic quasicrystals , 2009, 1007.3555.

[2]  P. Steinhardt,et al.  Quasicrystals: a new class of ordered structures , 1984 .

[3]  L. Biró,et al.  Optical structure and function of the white filamentary hair covering the edelweiss bracts. , 2005, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[4]  U. Gösele,et al.  Polycrystalline and monocrystalline pore arrays with large interpore distance in anodic alumina , 1999 .

[5]  Double Photonic Quasi-Crystal Structure Effect on GaN-Based Vertical-Injection Light-Emitting Diodes , 2010 .

[6]  Romuald Houdré,et al.  Refractive index sensing with an air-slot photonic crystal nanocavity. , 2010, Optics letters.

[7]  Kai Song,et al.  Fabrication of 3D Photonic Crystals of Ellipsoids: Convective Self‐Assembly in Magnetic Field , 2009 .

[8]  Joanna Aizenberg,et al.  Assembly of large-area, highly ordered, crack-free inverse opal films , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[9]  Majd Zoorob,et al.  Complete and absolute photonic bandgaps in highly symmetric photonic Quasicrystals embedded in low refractive index materials. , 2000 .

[10]  J. Vigneron,et al.  Color-selecting reflectors inspired from biological periodic multilayer structures. , 2006, Optics express.

[11]  Hideki T. Miyazaki,et al.  Photonic band in two-dimensional lattices of micrometer-sized spheres mechanically arranged under a scanning electron microscope , 2000 .

[12]  Benny Hallam,et al.  Brilliant Whiteness in Ultrathin Beetle Scales , 2007, Science.

[13]  P Vukusic,et al.  Physical methods for investigating structural colours in biological systems , 2009, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[14]  L. Biró,et al.  Living photonic crystals: Butterfly scales — Nanostructure and optical properties , 2007 .

[15]  D. Stavenga,et al.  Gyroid cuticular structures in butterfly wing scales: biological photonic crystals , 2007, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[16]  Jennifer N Cha,et al.  Discovery of a diamond-based photonic crystal structure in beetle scales. , 2008, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[17]  Eric Denton,et al.  Reflectors in Fishes , 1971 .

[18]  J. Roy Sambles,et al.  Shedding light on butterfly wings , 2001, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[19]  Dirk Englund,et al.  Ultrafast photonic crystal nanocavity laser , 2006 .

[20]  D. Gerthsen,et al.  Photonic metamaterials by direct laser writing , 2009, 2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and 2009 Conference on Quantum electronics and Laser Science Conference.

[21]  Rodolfo H. Torres,et al.  Structural colouration of mammalian skin: convergent evolution of coherently scattering dermal collagen arrays , 2004, Journal of Experimental Biology.

[22]  M. Wegener,et al.  Direct laser writing of three-dimensional photonic-crystal templates for telecommunications , 2004, Nature materials.

[23]  J. Sambles,et al.  Photonic structures in biology , 2003, Nature.

[24]  Mohan Srinivasarao,et al.  Structural Origin of Circularly Polarized Iridescence in Jeweled Beetles , 2009, Science.

[25]  Theresa S. Mayer,et al.  Fabrication of three-dimensional polymer photonic crystal structures using single diffraction element interference lithography , 2003 .

[26]  H De Raedt,et al.  Reflectivity of the gyroid biophotonic crystals in the ventral wing scales of the Green Hairstreak butterfly, Callophrys rubi , 2010, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[27]  Krisztián Kertész,et al.  Gleaming and dull surface textures from photonic-crystal-type nanostructures in the butterfly Cyanophrys remus. , 2006, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[28]  P. Vukusic,et al.  Photonic crystal fiber in the polychaete worm Pherusa sp. , 2009, Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics.

[29]  Shuichi Kinoshita,et al.  Photophysics of Structural Color in the Morpho Butterflies , 2002 .

[30]  Eli Yablonovitch,et al.  New Fabrication Techniques for High-Quality Photonic Crystals , 1997 .

[31]  M. Srinivasarao.  Nano-Optics in the Biological World: Beetles, Butterflies, Birds, and Moths. , 1999, Chemical reviews.

[32]  Knight,et al.  Photonic band gap guidance in optical fibers , 1998, Science.

[33]  Suresh Narayanan,et al.  Structure, function, and self-assembly of single network gyroid (I4132) photonic crystals in butterfly wing scales , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[34]  Jean-Pol Vigneron,et al.  Gold bugs and beyond: a review of iridescence and structural colour mechanisms in beetles (Coleoptera) , 2009, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[35]  D. Stavenga,et al.  Imaging scatterometry of butterfly wing scales. , 2009, Optics express.

[36]  P. Vukusic,et al.  Experimental method for reliably establishing the refractive index of buprestid beetle exocuticle. , 2007, Optics express.

[37]  Mckenzie,et al.  Multilayer reflectors in animals using green and gold beetles as contrasting examples , 1998, The Journal of experimental biology.