In work just published in Materials Today Advances, members of the group, led by Laura Ospina-Rozo, report new results into the optical and near-infrared properties of beetle elytra. We showed that some scarab beetles use composite, non-chiral structures to reflect light where the elytra consist of a broadband reflective structure overlain by a green filter. The green near-infrared reflective elytra may enable both camouflage and passive cooling.
Members of the Melbourne node, Dr Wendy Lee, Dr Lukas Wesemann and PhD student Shaban Sulejman attended the official launch of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS) at ANU on the 28th September. The launch was attended by Australian Research Council Chief Executive Officer Ms Judith Zielke, ANU Vice Chancellor Prof. Brian Schmidt in attendance and ANU Chancellor Julie Bishop in attendance.
Work led by Lukas Wesemann published in ACS Photonics reports the use of a metasurface for generating pseudo-3D images of phase objects. His subsequent article in The Conversation discusses its potential application to disease detection.
A new paper led by PhD student Niken Priscilla reveals an intriguing device which exhibits a different colour variation when observed from either side. Unlike previous research the structure involves four simple nanoscale thickness layers of silica, silver and chromium. The research has been published in Advanced Photonics Research – link here.
Thin film device viewed from either side. Green light is transmitted independently of which surface is illuminated .
Dr Alexander Wood is the recipient of the 2021 Woodward Medal in Science and Technology for his suite of publications in Nature Physics, Science Advances and Physical Review Letters concerning how physical rotation can be used as a tool for control and measurement of a quantum system. The Woodward Medal was established to reward outstanding and original scholarship. Congratulations, Alex!
Silicon mold (left) and resulting nanoimprinted structure (right).
Faris Shahidan has led new work appearing today in Optics Express. Using nanoimprint lithography we show that it is possible to generate vivid colouration without the requirement for polarised light. Embossed polymers are coated with a variety of metals permitting an investigation of the role of the choice of metal. This work opens up the prospects for applications in manufacturing and elsewhere. Link to paper (open access) here.
Congratulations to Dr Shahidan whose PhD was awarded on 31 August! From his citation his contributions to the field involved the investigation of novel approaches to generating nanostructured surface colouration. He showed that nanoimprint lithography can produce complex three-dimensional nanostructures over large areas and at scale critical to adoption of structural colour technologies. His work underpins new approaches for producing environmentally conscious colour films for consumer goods and next-generation security features.
Dr Shahidan and Professor Roberts enjoying a remote catch-up!
The ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems is now seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified candidates for MSc (coursework) and PhD positions. By harnessing the disruptive concept of meta-optics TMOS will develop the next generation of ultra-compact optical systems with fundamentally new and exciting capabilities.
Nima Azar, Sivacarendran Balendhran and Ken Crozier are co-authors on a Nature paper with colleagues from the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. They made use of the extraordinary sensitivity of the bandgap of black phosphorous (bP) to strain to show the continuous and reversible tuning of the operating wavelengths in bP light-emitting diodes and photodetectors.
Lukas Wesemann, Tim Davis and Ann Roberts have a new review article looking at the use of thin films and metasurfaces for all-optical image processing that appeared today in Applied Physics Reviews. Link here.
In work just published in Materials Today Advances, members of the group, led by Laura Ospina-Rozo, report new results into the optical and near-infrared properties of beetle elytra. We showed that some scarab beetles use composite, non-chiral structures to reflect light where the elytra consist of a broadband reflective structure overlain by a green filter. The green near-infrared reflective elytra may enable both camouflage and passive cooling.
