Unlocking the vibrant photonic realm: A new horizon for structural colors

2025-04-10

(Press-News.org)

A new publication from Opto-Electronic Sciences; DOI 10.29026/oes.2025.240030, discusses unlocking the vibrant photonic realm.

Nature not only provides humans with abundant material resources but also offers rich colors, satisfying both material and spiritual needs. The vibrant and diverse colors displayed by peacock feathers, opals, and beetles are all a result of the exquisite structural colors found in nature. The micro- and nanostructures on their surfaces interact with light, producing phenomena such as diffraction, scattering, interference, and selective reflection, thereby exhibiting vivid and bright color characteristics. By emulating the photonic structures that generate structural colors in nature, we can artificially construct micro- and nanostructures and design ordered configurations to regulate the transmission and response behavior of light waves. This utilization of the interaction between light and matter has enabled the application of structural colors in various aspects of life, including colorful decorations, anti-counterfeiting, printing, and sensing. In summary, structural colors, characterized by their high stability, durability, and environmental friendliness, have become a promising alternative to traditional coloring methods.

This review focuses on the applications of structural colors in the fields of anti-counterfeiting, display technology, sensors, and printing (Fig. 1). Firstly, it discusses and compares various fabrication methods for structural colors, providing design guidance for selecting suitable structural colors for different application scenarios. Secondly, the article dissects the physical mechanisms behind the emergence of structural colors and their design principles in micro/nano photonics. A comparative analysis of five typical structural coloration principles is presented, highlighting their individual advantages and limitations. This critical evaluation aims to streamline the transition from conceptual design to practical application. Subsequently, the review delves into the emerging applications of structural colors, ranging from artificial structures to colloidal crystals. Guided by practical applications, it showcases the versatility of current design strategies and their ability to meet a broad array of functional demands.

In the realm of structural color fabrication, the evolution can be categorized from one-dimensional (1D) to three-dimensional (3D) structures, and the manufacturing methods can be divided into bottom-up, top-down, and hybrid approaches. These include metasurfaces, photonic crystals, Fabry-Perot cavities, plasmonic resonances, and colloidal photonic crystals. Metasurfaces, as representatives of structural colors, offer high color tunability, large information density, and multiple color channel dimensions, and are widely used in anti-counterfeiting and printing, as shown in Fig. 2. Colloidal photonic crystals, as typical representatives of bottom-up structural colors, can develop a range of responsive structural color devices, such as those responsive to force, magnetism, heat, and electricity, enabling dynamic structural color displays, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

The review introduces the recent developments in the field of structural color, discusses the current mainstream application scenarios, and indicates that future development should focus on the development of intelligent structural color devices, the establishment of micro/nano structure databases, the improvement of the closed-loop chain from design to processing, and the expansion of structural color application scenarios.

This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (Grant No. 2024JC-YBMS-291); Special Support Program for High-level Talents of Shaanxi Province (No. 2020-44). The authors thank Wenhui Dou (Rocket Force University of Engineering) for offering language support.

Keywords: structural color / metasurface / photonic crystals / dynamic tunable

# # # # # #

Long Wang, is an associate professor and doctoral supervisor at the Zhijian Laboratory of the Rocket Force University of Engineering. His main research and teaching focus on photothermal regulation technology, intelligent materials and structures, and advanced manufacturing technology. He has published more than 110 academic papers, authored and co-authored 4 books and textbooks, filed more than 90 invention patents (with 51 authorized patents), and obtained 9 software copyrights.

Xiaohu Wu primarily focuses on research in the fields of radiative heat transfer, solar-thermal utilization, and micro/nano photonics, having published over 200 academic papers. His research work was selected as one of the American Optical Society’s 30 global optical advancements in 2020 and has received the Hartnett-Irvine Award from the International Center for Heat and Mass Transfer. He has presided over 4 scientific research projects at the national and Shandong provincial levels. He holds 3 authorized invention patents, 5 software copyrights, and has published one 1 English monograph. Xiaohu Wu founded the WeChat public account “Thermal Radiation and Micro/Nano Photonics,” dedicated to academic sharing and dissemination.

Prof. Youju Huang established the Key Materials Team for Nanobiosensors in September 2019, focusing on the core materials and key scientific issues in nanobiosensors. The team has developed a series of novel nanobiosensing technologies and explored their fundamental research and industrialization in in vitro medical diagnostics. The team has published over 200 papers in internationally renowned SCI journals. The team leader has published more than 150 papers in journals such as Chemical Society Reviews, Science Advances, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, ACS Nano, Biomaterials, and Analytical Chemistry.

# # # # # #

Opto-Electronic Science (OES) is a peer-reviewed, open access, interdisciplinary and international journal published by The Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences as a sister journal of Opto-Electronic Advances (OEA, IF=15.3). OES is dedicated to providing a professional platform to promote academic exchange and accelerate innovation. OES publishes articles, reviews, and letters of the fundamental breakthroughs in basic science of optics and optoelectronics.

# # # # # #

More information: https://www.oejournal.org/oes

Editorial Board: https://www.oejournal.org/oes/editorialboard/list

OES is available on OE journals (https://www.oejournal.org/oes/archive)

Submission of OES may be made using ScholarOne (https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/oes)

CN 51-1800/O4

ISSN 2097-0382

Twitter: @OptoElectronAdv (https://twitter.com/OptoElectronAdv?lang=en)

WeChat: OE_Journal

# # # # # #

Wang WH, Wang L, Fu QQ et al. Structural color: an emerging nanophotonic strategy for multicolor and functionalized applications. Opto-Electron Sci x, 240030 (2025). doi: 10.29026/oes.2025.240030

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

Unlocking the vibrant photonic realm: A new horizon for structural colors 2

Unlocking the vibrant photonic realm: A new horizon for structural colors 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Integrated photonic polarizers with 2D reduced graphene oxide

2025-04-10

A new publication from Opto-Electronic Sciences; DOI 10.29026/oes.2025.240032 , discusses integrated photonic polarizers with 2D reduced graphene oxide. In modern optical systems, controlling light polarization is of fundamental importance and underpins a variety of advanced optical technologies. Optical polarizers, which selectively transmit light with a specific polarization orientation while blocking light of the orthogonal polarization, are essential components underpinning modern optical systems for a diverse range of applications. The applications are divided into ...

Shouldering the burden of how to treat shoulder pain

2025-04-10

Shoulders are, in many ways, a marvel. One shoulder has four separate joints, packed with muscles, that allow us to move our arm in eight different major ways, giving us the most degrees of freedom of any joint in the body. We can swim, toss, hug, and even punch because of the movement our shoulders enable. But the same complexity that allows us such motion also presents opportunities for pain when something goes wrong. Another complication: shoulders change as we age, and new types of injuries come with it. Clinical practitioners ...

Stevens researchers put glycemic response modeling on a data diet

2025-04-10

Hoboken, N.J., April 10, 2025 — If you eat a snack — a meatball, say, or a marshmallow — how will it affect your blood sugar? It’s a surprisingly tricky question: the body’s glycemic response to different foods varies based on individual genetics, microbiomes, hormonal fluctuations, and more. Because of that, providing personalized nutritional advice — which can help manage diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases, among other conditions — requires costly and intrusive testing, making it hard to deliver effective care at scale. In a paper in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, ...

Genotype-to-phenotype map of human pelvis illuminates evolutionary tradeoffs between walking and childbirth

2025-04-10

A combined study on the morphology of the human pelvis – leveraging genetics and deep learning on data from more than 31,000 individuals – reveals genetic links between pelvic structure and function, locomotion, and childbirth outcomes, researchers report. The findings offer fresh insights into how our species evolved to balance the competing demands of bipedalism and childbirth. The transition to bipedalism in hominins led to significant changes in pelvic morphology, including a shorter and wider pelvis, which facilitated an upright posture and efficient locomotion. However, ...

Pleistocene-age Denisovan male identified in Taiwan

2025-04-10

A fossil Pleistocene-age hominin jawbone discovered in Taiwan has now been identified as belonging to a Denisovan, according to a new paleoproteomic analysis of the remains. The findings provide direct molecular evidence that Denisovans occupied diverse climates, from the cold Siberian mountains to the warm, humid subtropical latitudes of Taiwan, and offer new morphological insights into this enigmatic hominin lineage. Recent research has revealed a surprising variety of ancient human relatives that lived in eastern Asia during the Pleistocene before modern humans arrived. One of the most important discoveries is the Denisovans, a distinct group identified through DNA ...

KATRIN experiment sets most precise upper limit on neutrino mass: 0.45 eV

2025-04-10

Researchers from the KATRIN (Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino) experiment report the most precise measurement of the upper mass limit of the neutrino to date, establishing it as 0.45 electron volts (eV) – less than one-millionth the mass of an electron. The findings tighten the constraints on one of the universe’s most elusive fundamental particles and push the boundaries of physics beyond the Standard Model. Neutrinos – electrically neutral elementary particles – are the most abundant particles in the universe and ...

How the cerebellum controls tongue movements to grab food

2025-04-10

By studying the skilled movements of marmoset tongues, researchers have discovered that Purkinje cells (P-cells) in a brain region called the cerebellum signal to stop protrusion as the tongue approaches its target, according to a study published April 10th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Reza Shadmehr from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, U.S., and colleagues. We use our tongue to shape the air and generate sounds to communicate, and we use our tongue to evaluate food morsels and transport them through the oral cavity when eating. These skillful acts involve coordination of more ...

It’s not you—it’s cancer

2025-04-10

Cancer ravages both body and mind. If you’ve ever lost loved ones to the disease, you might recognize the physical and emotional changes cancer patients often endure during their final months. They seem drained of strength and spirit. Even people who’ve maintained a positive outlook throughout their lives can enter a state of despair. New research published in Science suggests apathy and lack of motivation are symptoms of a condition called cancer cachexia. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory ...

Drug pollution alters migration behavior in salmon

2025-04-10

In the largest study of its kind to date, a team of international researchers has investigated how pharmaceutical pollution affects the behaviour and migration of Atlantic salmon. The study, led by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, revealed that commonly detected environmental levels of clobazam – a medication often prescribed for sleep disorders – increased the river-to-sea migration success of juvenile salmon in the wild. The researchers also discovered that clobazam shortened the time it took for juvenile salmon to navigate through two hydropower dams along their migration route – obstacles that typically ...

Scientists decode citrus greening resistance and develop AI-assisted treatment

2025-04-10

In a groundbreaking study published in Science, a research team led by Prof. YE Jian from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has identified the first mechanism of citrus resistance to citrus greening disease, or huanglongbing (HLB). Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), the team has also developed antimicrobial peptides that offer a promising therapeutic approach to combat the disease. This discovery addresses a long-standing challenge in the agricultural community—the absence of naturally occurring HLB-resistant genes in citrus. Citrus ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Mysterious ‘Dark Dwarfs’ may be hiding at the heart of the Milky Way

Real-world data shows teclistamab can benefit many multiple myeloma patients who would have been ineligible for pivotal trial

Itani studying translation potential of secure & efficient software updates in industrial internet of things architectures

Elucidating the source process of the 2021 south sandwich islands tsunami earthquake

Zhu studying use of big data in verification of route choice models

[Press-News.org] Unlocking the vibrant photonic realm: A new horizon for structural colors