Bright-White Beetle Scales Optimise Multiple Scattering of Light
OPEN Bright-White Beetle Scales Optimise SUBJECT AREAS: Multiple Scattering of Light OPTICAL PHYSICS Matteo Burresi1,2, Lorenzo Cortese1,3, Lorenzo Pattelli1,3, Mathias Kolle4, Peter Vukusic5, OPTICS AND PHOTONICS Diederik S. Wiersma1,3, Ullrich Steiner6 & Silvia Vignolini6,7 BIOLOGICAL PHYSICS BIOPHYSICS 1European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), Universita` di Firenze, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy, 2Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (CNR-INO), Largo Fermi 6, 50125 Firenze (FI), Italy, 3Universita` di Firenze, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy, 4School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Harvard University 29 Oxford St., Received Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 28 January 2014 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA, 5Thin Film Photonics, School of Physics, Exeter University, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK, 6Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, U.K, Accepted 7Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW UK. 4 July 2014 Published Whiteness arises from diffuse and broadband reflection of light typically achieved through optical scattering 15 August 2014 in randomly structured media. In contrast to structural colour due to coherent scattering, white appearance generally requires a relatively thick system comprising randomly positioned high refractive-index scattering centres. Here, we show that the exceptionally bright white appearance of Cyphochilus and Lepidiota stigma Correspondence and beetles arises from a remarkably optimised anisotropy of intra-scale chitin networks, which act as a dense requests for materials scattering media. Using time-resolved measurements, we show that light propagating in the scales of the beetles undergoes pronounced multiple scattering that is associated with the lowest transport mean free should be addressed to path reported to date for low-refractive-index systems.
[Show full text]