Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026

CD Spectroscopy to Study DNA-Protein Interactions
Published on: February 10, 2022
Circular dichroism in biological photonic crystals and cubic chiral nets
1Theoretische Physik, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.
Abstract:
Nature provides impressive examples of chiral photonic crystals, with the notable example of the cubic so-called srs network (the label for the chiral degree-three network modeled on SrSi2) or gyroid structure realized in wing scales of several butterfly species. By a circular polarization analysis of the band structure of such networks, we demonstrate strong circular dichroism effects: The butterfly srs microstructure, of cubic I4(1)32 symmetry, shows significant circular dichroism for blue to ultraviolet light, that warrants a search for biological receptors sensitive to circular polarization. A derived synthetic structure based on four like-handed silicon srs nets exhibits a large circular polarization stop band of a width exceeding 30%. These findings offer design principles for chiral photonic devices.
Related Concept Videos
Chirality in Nature
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Prochirality
Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity
Stereoisomerism of Cyclic Compounds
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...

