Bio-Inspired Photonic Structures for Optical Materials

Manmade photonic materials promise to bring tremendous benefits to society as their capability to emit, detect, manipulate and control light is expected to be accompanied by several technological breakthroughs. However, the approaches to creating brilliant colors similar to those found in nature are still in their infancy. In this context, we propose the use of ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) for the evaluation of bio-inspired photonic structures fabricated by exploiting the self-assembly of various building blocks. We aim at a statistical quantification of how different processing conditions affect artificial photonic structures characterized by different symmetries with sizes in the order of visible light wavelengths. We expect the combination of the experiments proposed here with 3D imaging analysis using focused-ion beam (FIB) tomography, microspectroscopy measurements, and optical simulation to shed light on the structural coloration of bio-inspired photonic structures.