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Enhancing structural colour through absorption

Towards unprecedently bright and colour-pure photonic crystals

Colour in nature arises typically either from pigment absorption or interference (i.e., structural colour from photonic materials), where the latter typically produces a more vivid, saturated colour. We have recently demonstrated that the scattering efficiency of pigment loaded scatterers in the wing scales of some Pierid butterflies is enhanced through the augmentation of their refractive index afforded by the Kramers-Kronig (KK) effect, which results in coloration enhancement. Apart from this scattering effect, structural colour through interference is also strongly affected by the refractive index contrast between the constituent materials. The objective of this project is to harness the KK-effect to enhance the generation of structural coloration in periodic lattice materials.

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