OSA's Digital Library

Optics Express

Optics Express

  • Editor: Andrew M. Weiner
  • Vol. 21, Iss. 1 — Jan. 14, 2013
  • pp: 1–11

Suppression of backscattered diffraction from sub-wavelength ‘moth-eye’ arrays

 »View Author Affiliations


Optics Express, Vol. 21, Issue 1, pp. 1-11 (2013)


View Full Text Article

Enhanced HTML    Acrobat PDF (2154 KB)





Browse Journals / Lookup Meetings

Browse by Journal and Year


   


Lookup Conference Papers

Close Browse Journals / Lookup Meetings

Article Tools

Share
Citations
  • Export Citation/Save Click for help

Abstract

The eyes and wings of some species of moth are covered with arrays of nanoscale features that dramatically reduce reflection of light. There have been multiple examples where this approach has been adapted for use in antireflection and antiglare technologies with the fabrication of artificial moth-eye surfaces. In this work, the suppression of iridescence caused by the diffraction of light from such artificial regular moth-eye arrays at high angles of incidence is achieved with the use of a new tiled domain design, inspired by the arrangement of features on natural moth-eye surfaces. This bio-mimetic pillar architecture contains high optical rotational symmetry and can achieve high levels of diffraction order power reduction. For example, a tiled design fabricated in silicon and consisting of domains with 9 different orientations of the traditional hexagonal array exhibited a ~96% reduction in the intensity of the −1 diffraction order. It is suggested natural moth-eye surfaces have evolved a tiled domain structure as it confers efficient antireflection whilst avoiding problems with high angle diffraction. This combination of antireflection and stealth properties increases chances of survival by reducing the risk of the insect being spotted by a predator. Furthermore, the tiled domain design could lead to more effective artificial moth-eye arrays for antiglare and stealth applications.

© 2013 OSA

OCIS Codes
(050.0050) Diffraction and gratings : Diffraction and gratings
(050.6624) Diffraction and gratings : Subwavelength structures

ToC Category:
Diffraction and Gratings

History
Original Manuscript: July 12, 2012
Manuscript Accepted: September 15, 2012
Published: January 2, 2013

Citation
, "Suppression of backscattered diffraction from sub-wavelength ‘moth-eye’ arrays," Opt. Express 21, 1-11 (2013)
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-21-1-1


Sort:  Journal  |  Reset  

References

References are not available for this paper.

Cited By

OSA is able to provide readers links to articles that cite this paper by participating in CrossRef's Cited-By Linking service. CrossRef includes content from more than 3000 publishers and societies. In addition to listing OSA journal articles that cite this paper, citing articles from other participating publishers will also be listed.


Next Article »

OSA is a member of CrossRef.

CrossCheck Deposited