EAPSI:Investigating the Physics Underlying the Brilliant Structural Color of Morpho Butterflies for Reproduction and Incorporation in Electronics

集成电路技术和光通信技术推动了信息革命，但信息革命的持续发展需要将两者融合为一个单片技术。由于硅（Si）是用于制造集成电路的材料，硅光子学（定义为使用硅基材料和硅兼容工艺的光子学）可能是解决方案。研究大闪蝶产生鲜艳颜色的独特物理机制将为硅光子学的设计提供信息。这个项目将有助于研究大闪蝶绚丽色彩背后的物理过程，并为实际应用大规模地重建它们。此次研究将与专门研究硅光子学的材料和结构的韩国科学技术院（kaist）教授郑信（音译）共同进行。与颜料、染料和油漆中发现的选择性波长吸收的化学过程不同，大闪蝶？S结构色是通过物理过程产生的：光与材料表面的纳米结构相互作用时产生的干涉效应。结构色主要是基于基本的光学过程，如薄层干涉、衍射光栅和光散射，但这些过程在自然系统中混合在一起，产生了尚未完全理解的复杂光学现象。利用时域有限差分（FDTD）建模的多簇数值模拟将阐明产生大闪蝶的光物理过程。年代的颜色。制作过程包括纳米压印，溅射沉积，和干蚀刻多层样品将进行。对样品进行光学表征，然后与之前的数值模拟结果进行比较，将揭示该制造技术在复制大闪蝶中产生颜色的纳米结构方面的有效性。美国国家科学基金会EAPSI奖是与韩国国家研究基金会合作资助的。

Integrated circuit technology and optical communication drive the information revolution, but sustaining continued progress of the information revolution requires merging the two into one monolithic technology. Since silicon (Si) is the material used to manufacture integrated circuits, silicon photonics, defined as photonics using Si-based materials and Si-compatible processes, can be the solution. Investigating the unique physical mechanism by which the Morpho butterfly generates its vivid color will inform the design of Si photonics. This project will contribute to the current effort to study the physical processes behind the brilliant colors of Morpho butterflies and to recreate them on a large scale for practical applications. This research will be conducted in collaboration with Professor Jung Shin at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, who specializes in research of materials and structures that can enable realization of Si photonics.Unlike the chemical process of selective wavelength absorption found in pigments, dyes, and paints, the Morpho butterfly?s structural colors emerge via a physical process: interference effects as light interacts with the nanostructures on the surface of a material. Structural colors are mainly based on elementary optical processes, such as thin-layer interference, diffraction grating, and light scattering, but these processes mix together in natural systems to produce complex optical phenomena that have yet to be fully understood. Multi-cluster numerical simulation using Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) modeling will elucidate the photophysics generating the Morpho butterfly?s colors. A fabrication process involving nanoimprinting lithography, sputter deposition, and dry etching of multilayer samples will be conducted. Optical characterization of the samples, and then comparison with the results from the previous numerical simulation, will reveal the effectiveness of the fabrication technique in replicating the color-generating nanostructures in the Morpho butterfly. The NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the National Research Foundation of Korea.