Image 4: Enlarged image showing jeweled beetle Chrysina
gloriosa. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology studied the
surface structures on the beetle's shell and discovered that the iridescent
colors are produced from liquid crystalline material that self-assembles into a
complex arrangement of polygonal shapes.
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Mohan Srinivasarao, a professor at the
School of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering at Georgia Tech, received a
grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study what gives the
jeweled beetle's shell its iridescence. Iridescent beetles, butterflies,
certain sea organisms and many birds get their unique colors from the
interaction of light with physical structures on their external surfaces.
"This is really a pattern formation
issue," said Srinivasarao. "It is difficult to pack only hexagons
onto a curved surface. On flat surfaces, there are fewer defects in the form of
five- and seven-sided cells."
Srinivasarao believes the patterns are
due to the nature of the cholesteric liquid crystal and because the liquid
crystal phase structures itself at the interface between air and fluid.
"We think these patterns result because the liquid crystal must have
defects on the surface when exposed to air, and those defects create the
patterns in the beetle's shell or exoskeleton," says Srinivasarao.
Studying these shimmery shells may lead
to new insights into liquid crystal technology. "Understanding how these
structures give rise to the stunning colors we see in nature could benefit the
quest for miniature optical devices and photonics," said Srinivasarao.
Liquid crystalline materials have many uses, from displays for laptop computers
to portable music players and other devices to children's thermometers.
This information was taken from the
Georgia Tech news release "Jeweled Beetles: Scientists Unlock Optical and
Liquid Crystal Secrets of Iridescent Metallic Green Insects." The full
story is available Here.
Or, to learn more, you can view the NSF
presentation "Inside a Beetle's Iridescence." [Research supported by
NSF grant DMR 07-06235.]
(Date of Image: July 2009)
Credit: Georgia Tech; photo by Gary Meek
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