Random lasers from photonic crystal wings of butterfly and moth for speckle-free imaging

Several biological membranes have been served as scattering materials of random lasers, but few of them include natural photonic crystals. Here, we propose and demonstrate a facile approach to fabricating high-performance biological photonic crystal random lasers, which is cost-effective and reproducible for mass production. As a benchmark, optical and lasing properties of dye-coated Lepidoptera wings, including Papilio ulysses butterfly and Chrysiridia rhipheus moth, are characterized and show a stable laser emission with a superior threshold of 0.016 mJ/cm², as compared to previous studies. To deploy the proposed devices in practical implementation, we have applied the as-fabricated biological devices to bright speckle-free imaging applications, which is a more sustainable and more accessible imaging strategy.