Bio-inspired Surface Treatments to Control Broad-band IR Response
Project Leader(s)
UC Santa Barbara
Research Focus Area
(left) Anti-reflective surface of the moth eye. (right) Synthetic colloidal crystal mask showing structural color due to interference and companion anti-reflective surface coating created to mimic the graded refractive index of the moth eye in silicon for optical applications in the infrared spectral range.
The goal of our project is to develop an easy, scalable, and defect-tolerant surface coating method which mimics the graded refractive index behavior of the moth-eye to manipulate the optical response of surfaces in the infrared spectral range. In addition, we seek to understand how structuring surfaces with sub-wavelength features can be used to control reflection and transmission of infrared light at material interfaces for applications in optics, photo-detection, solar energy harvesting and waste heat recovery.
Date Completed
