Synthesis of bio-inspired multilayer polarizers and their application to anti-counterfeiting

Some insects, such as Papilio blumei and Suneve coronata, are known for exhibiting polarization effects on light such as color contrast or geometrical polarization rotation by reflection on their wing scales. The photonic structures found on these species that show these properties are multilayered spherical cavities or triangular grooves which polarize the light due to multiple inner reflections. These polarization effects, in addition to the intrinsic color-mixing properties of these photonic structures, are of interest in the anti-counterfeiting field due to their invisibility to the naked eye. In this paper, we report micro-fabrication techniques to produce bio-inspired cylindrical grooves (C-grooves) and triangular grooves (V-grooves) that demonstrate the same properties. Theoretical analyses were carried out by using multi-scale simulation (MS) as well as by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) in order to compare the polarization capability of both structures. The V-grooves show greater polarization contrast than the C-grooves, but the spectrum is specular. The C-grooves exhibit lower polarization effects but have a dispersive spectrum. In both cases, the structures show additional optical properties, such as diffraction, macroscopic color contrast under a polarizer, and contrast inversion due to geometries which contribute to their uniqueness.