Light Polarization by Biological NanocoatingsстатьяИсследовательская статья
Статья опубликована в высокорейтинговом журнале
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Статья опубликована в журнале из списка Web of Science и/или Scopus
Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 30 июня 2021 г.
Аннотация:Light plays paramount functions for living beings in nature.In addition to color, the polarization of light is used by many animals fornavigation and communication. In this study, we describe the lightpolarizing role of special nanostructures coating cuticular surfaces of diversearthropods. These structures are built as parallel nanoscale ridges coveringthe eyes of the sunlight-navigating spider Drassodes lapidosus and of thewater pond-swarming black fly Simulium vittatum, as well as the lightemittingabdominal lantern of the firefly Aquatica lateralis. Exact topographyand dimensions of the parallel nanoridges provide different light polarizingefficiencies and wavelength sensitivity. Optical modeling confirms that thenanoscale ridges are responsible for the spectral polarization dependency.Co-opting from our recent work on the self-assembly of Drosophila corneal nanostructures, we engineer arthropod-like parallelnanoridges on artificial surfaces, which recapitulate the light polarization effects. Our work highlights the fundamental importance ofnanocoatings in arthropods for the light polarization management and provides a new biomimetic approach to produce orderednanostructures under mild conditions.