Abstract
The remarkable camouflage capabilities of cephalopods have inspired many to develop dynamic optical materials which exploit certain design principles and/or material properties from cephalopod dermal cells. Here, the angle-dependent optical properties of various single-layer reflectin thin-films on Si wafers are characterized within the UV–Vis–NIR regions. Following this, initial efforts to design, fabricate, and optically characterize a bio-inspired reflectin-based multilayer reflector is described, which was found to conserve the optical properties of single layer films but exhibit reduced angle-dependent visible reflectivity. Finally, we report the integration of phytochrome visible light-induced isomerism into reflectin-based films, which was found to subtly modulate reflectin thin-film reflectivity.
Highlights
The remarkable camouflage capabilities of cephalopods have inspired many to develop dynamic optical materials which exploit certain design principles and/or material properties from cephalopod dermal cells
Reflectins are a unique family of high-refractive index proteins native to cephalopods[1]
These proteins, are more commonly associated with cellular Bragg reflectors known as iridophores, where intracellular lamellae containing reflectins are spatially separated by the extracellular matrix (Fig. 1A)[4]
Summary
The remarkable camouflage capabilities of cephalopods have inspired many to develop dynamic optical materials which exploit certain design principles and/or material properties from cephalopod dermal cells. While significant efforts have been directed towards developing novel methods of controlling reflectin layer thickness to modulate the optical properties of these materials, few studies have characterized and/or modified the angle-dependent reflectance of such films[23].
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