Biological photonic crystal structure and its orientation

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26400432
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Biological physics/Chemical physics/Soft matter physics
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Science (2015-2016); Osaka University (2014)
• Principal Investigator: YOSHIOKA Shinya 東京理科大学, 理工学部物理学科, 准教授 (90324863)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: フォトニック結晶 / 構造色

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We studied the structural color of several butterflies and weevils species that utilize the photonic crystal structure for the coloration. In particular, the relation between the crystal orientation and the optical properties was investigated for the Emerald-patched Cattleheart butterfly. We found that the reflection from the photonic crystal domain largely changes depending on the crystal orientation and the polarization of the illuminating light. On the basis of the experimentally determined crystal orientation of the phonic crystal, polarization-dependent reflectance was theoretically calculated. From the agreement between the calculation and the observation, we concluded that the separated domains with different in-plane crystal orientations cause the tessellated pattern of the scale that is observed under a crossed polarizer and analyzer.

Free Research Field

光物理学