The shimmering of butterfly wings in bright colors does not emerge from pigments. Rather, photonic crystals are responsible for the play of colors. Their periodic nanostructure allows light at certain wavelengths to pass through while reflecting other wavelengths. This causes the wing scales, which are in fact transparent, to appear so magnificently colored.
For research teams, the manufacture of artificial photonic crystals for visible light wavelengths has been a major challenge and motivation ever since they were predicted by theorists more than 35 years ago.
"Photonic crystals have a versatile range of applications. They have been employed to develop more efficient solar cells, innovative optical waveguides, and materials for quantum communication. However, they have been very laborious to manufacture," explains Dr. Gregor Posnjak.
The physicist is a postdoc in the research group of LMU Professor Tim Liedl. Using DNA nanotechnology, the team has developed a new approach for the manufacture of photonic crystals. Their results have now been published in the journal Science.
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