Structural colors in living beings are one of the most marvelous arts that nature has ever created during the long history of the evolution. These colors originate from surprisingly sophisticated microstructures which gave rise to a new field of research—bionanophotonics. This book occupies a special position among similar books in the field of photonics, because it places a special emphasis on the detailed physical basis for the optical processes that are deeply connected with the structural colors, and also on the biological and physiological bases concerning what a variety of animals are living and how they are seen by human vision. In addition, it contains ample examples for the recent technological advances in photonics that are rooted in the nature.
Introduction
Light and Color
Thin-Layer Interference
Diffraction of Light and Diffraction Grating
Photonic Crystals
Light Scattering
FDTD Method and Its Applications
Biography
Shuichi Kinoshita
"The author has produced an excellent and accessible reference on bionanophotonics, which covers the generation of structural-based colors in the context of biological microstructures in the natural world. ... Particular attention is given to the underlying optics phenomena in thin-layer interference, diffractive optics, and light scattering of Rayleigh and Mie type. Readers will appreciate the integrated approach with respect to biology, like antireflective modes in moth-eye structures and cholerestic liquid crystal microstructures in scarab beetles. Furthermore, natural diffraction grating in butterfly nanostructures and photonic crystals in peacock feathers are investigated in detail."
--Axel Mainzer Koenig, Koenig & Associates, Inc., Portland, Oregon, USA
Review featured in Optics and Photonics News, February 2014
