20% of brilliant white beetle scales’ reflectance via resonant coherent light scattering

Dominic Meiers; Ruben Pompe; Walter Pfeiffer; Georg von Freymann

doi:10.1117/12.2608781

5 March 2022 20% of brilliant white beetle scales’ reflectance via resonant coherent light scattering

Dominic Meiers, Ruben Pompe, Walter Pfeiffer, Georg von Freymann

Proceedings Volume PC12012, Advanced Fabrication Technologies for Micro/Nano Optics and Photonics XV; PC120120A (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2608781
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2022, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

We present a study on coherent light scattering effects in the white scales of the beetle Cyphochilus as well as in a simple model of the scales based on disordered Bragg stacks. For both structures the occurrence of random resonances is experimentally shown via ultrafast time-resolved scattered light spectroscopy. These resonances contribute about 20% to the total reflected light, revealing that resonant effects cannot be neglected in the explanation of brilliant whiteness. Accompanying numerical simulations further confirm that the so far presumed purely diffusive light transport is insufficient to fully describe the light scattering in ultrathin, white structures.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Dominic Meiers, Ruben Pompe, Walter Pfeiffer, and Georg von Freymann "20% of brilliant white beetle scales’ reflectance via resonant coherent light scattering", Proc. SPIE PC12012, Advanced Fabrication Technologies for Micro/Nano Optics and Photonics XV, PC120120A (5 March 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2608781

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