ABSTRACT
Fluttering around your garden on the wings of a butterfly are sophisticated nanostructured photonic crystals more complex than we can create in the laboratory. Swimming in our oceans are the potential future generations of high-speed, organic, color-changing display technology as well as creatures that were the genesis of a transformation in microbiology. In our flowerbeds and deep in the ocean live solar power generation technologies that may help us to eliminate our fossil fuel dependence. ese examples, some seen in Figure 1.1, are the beginning of a technology revolution spurred on by discoveries made about the structures and systems that have evolved to produce, reflect, absorb, and manipulate light in nature. Lessons and inspiration we are gaining from these systems may enable entirely new classes of organic and inorganic devices, improve the ecological impact on technology development, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. ere is an incredible diversity and complexity to these natural systems that we are only at the beginning of our ability to replicate in the laboratory. is book is about our discovery and understanding of these photonic systems and how we are using that knowledge to develop devices and applications that enable breakthrough capabilities. is is how we take inspiration from nature to create bioinspired photonic systems.
