The photonic beetle
This inch-long beetle from Brazil accomplished a task that so far has stymied human researchers. University of Utah chemists determined the beetle glows iridescent green because it evolved a crystal structure in its scales that is like the crystal structure of diamonds. Such a structure is considered an ideal architecture for "photonic crystals" that will be needed to manipulate visible light in ultrafast optical computers of the future. Credit: Jeremy Galusha, University of Utah Researchers have been unable to build an ideal “photonic crystal” to manipulate visible light, impeding the dream of ultrafast optical computers. But now, University of Utah chemists have discovered that nature already has designed photonic crystals with the ideal, diamond-like structure: They are found in the shimmering, iridescent green scales of a beetle from Brazil.
Read the whole article on Biology News Net
More from Biology News Net
Related
- The photonic beetleMon, 19 May 2008, 23:28:10 EDT
- Beaming new light on lifeWed, 4 Feb 2009, 23:21:54 EST
- Nano-diamond qubits and photonic crystalsTue, 30 Nov 2010, 11:33:26 EST
- Silicon photonic crystals key to optical cloaking, researchers sayWed, 25 Jun 2008, 12:14:52 EDT
- New photonic crystals have both electronic and optical propertiesSun, 24 Jul 2011, 15:32:59 EDT