Abstract
The optical properties of light reflected from the cuticle of the scarab beetle Cotinis mutabilis are studied using variable angle Mueller matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry. Reflection of left-handed polarized light is demonstrated. Large amplitude interference oscillations in the elements of the normalized Mueller matrix (M) reveal highly transparent materials comprising the beetle cuticle. Off-diagonal elements in M obey simple symmetry relationships due to the constraint in the cross-polarized reflection coefficients between p and s polarizations of chiral systems, rps=−rsp. Based on the latter constraint and further interrelationships experimentally investigated, the number of independent elements in M resulted in only six. Reciprocity is probed from measurements performed in opposite sample orientations and the effects on M due to sample rotation by 90° are discussed. The results suggest relatively large areas in the cuticle of C. mutabilis with a helicoidal structure comprised of fibrils with a well-defined orientation.
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