Amorphous diamond-structured photonic crystal in the feather barbs of the scarlet macaw

作者：Yin Haiwei; Dong Biqin; Liu Xiaohan; Zhan Tianrong; Shi Lei; Zi Jian^*; Yablonovitch Eli

来源：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012, 109(27): 10798-10801.

DOI：10.1073/pnas.1204383109

• structural color
• amorphous photonic structure

Noniridescent coloration by the spongy keratin in parrot feather barbs has fascinated scientists. Nonetheless, its ultimate origin remains as yet unanswered, and a quantitative structural and optical description is still lacking. Here we report on structural and optical characterizations and numerical simulations of the blue feather barbs of the scarlet macaw. We found that the sponge in the feather barbs is an amorphous diamond-structured photonic crystal with only short-range order. It possesses an isotropic photonic pseudogap that is ultimately responsible for the brilliant noniridescent coloration. We further unravel an ingenious structural optimization for attaining maximum coloration apparently resulting from natural evolution. Upon increasing the material refractive index above the level provided by nature, there is an interesting transition from a photonic pseudogap to a complete bandgap.

• 出版日期2012-7-3
• 单位复旦大学