The artificial beetle is possibly the Holy Grail for practitioners of engineered biomimicry. An artificial beetle could gather and relay data and images from compromised environments on earth and other planets to decision makers. It could also be used for surveillance of foes and friends alike, and will require ethical foresight and oversight. What would it take to develop an artificial beetle? Several biotemplating techniques can be harnessed for the replication of external structural features of beetle bodies, and thus preserve functionalities such as coloration of the exoskeleton and the hydrophobicity of wings. The body cavity must host a power supply, motors to move the wings for flight, sensors to capture ambient conditions and images, and data transmitters and receivers to communicate with a remote command center. All of these devices must be very small and reliable.
The world of insects displays myriad hues of coloration effects produced by elaborate nano-scale architectures built into wings and exoskeleton. For example, we have recently found many weevils possess photonic architectures with cubic lattices. In this talk, we will present high-resolution three-dimensional reconstructions of weevil photonic structures with diamond and gyroid lattices. Moreover, by reconstructing entire scales we found arrays of single-crystalline domains, each oriented such that only selected crystal faces are visible to an observer. This pixel-like arrangement is key to the angle-independent coloration typical of weevils—a strategy that could enable a new generation of coating technologies.
Sophisticated methods have been created by nature to produce structure-based colors as a way to address the need of a
wide variety of organisms. This pallet of available structures presents a unique opportunity for the investigation of new
photonic crystal designs. Low-temperature sol-gel biotemplating methods were used to transform a single biotemplate
into a variety of inorganic oxide structures. The density of optical states was calculated for a diamond-based natural
photonic crystal, as well as several structures templated from it. Calculations were experimentally probed by spontaneous emission studies using time correlated single photon counting measurements.
The structure and properties of natural photonic crystals are discussed using the colored scales of the beetle
Lamprocyphus augustus as an example. While the exact mechanism behind the formation of these biopolymeric photonic
structures has yet to be fully explored, similarities of these structures to intracellular cubic membrane architectures are
introduced. Some crucial parameters behind the formation of cubic membranes are discussed. Using these insights,
intracellular cubic membrane structures are transformed into an extracellular environment.
Nature has developed sophisticated methods to create structure-based colors as a way to address the need of a wide
variety of organisms. This pallet of available structures presents a unique opportunity for the investigation of new
photonic crystal designs. Low-temperature sol-gel biotemplating methods were used to transform a single biotemplate
into a variety of inorganic oxide structures. The density of optical states was calculated for a diamond-based natural
photonic crystal, as well as several structures templated from it. Calculations were experimentally probed by
spontaneous emission studies using time correlated single photon counting measurements.
Biological systems such as butterflies and beetles have developed highly elaborate photonic crystals to create their
striking coloration. Especially, examples of the weevil and longhorn families (Curculionidae and Cerambycidae,
respectively) possess a range of interesting three-dimensional photonic crystal structures operating at visible
wavelengths, including non-close-packed lattices of cuticular spheres and diamond-based architectures. A low-temperature
sol-gel bio-templating method was developed, to transform bio-polymeric photonic crystals into heat and
photo-stable silica and titania inorganic structures. The fabricated oxide-based structures display good structural and
optical properties.
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