A Mid-Infrared Absorber Inspired by the Wing-Scale Photonic Structure of Troides magellanus
Abstract
Growing environmental and energy-related challenges have intensified the search for technologies capable of improving energy recovery and resource efficiency. Bioinspired photonic structures offer promising opportunities for the development of efficient infrared absorbers by exploiting optical mechanisms found in natural systems. In this work, we present a bioinspired approach for the design and optimization of a broadband mid-infrared absorber based on the highly absorbing wing scales of the Troides magellanus Magellan birdwing butterfly. The characteristic geometry of the biological structure is rescaled and adapted to shift its optical response from the visible to the infrared spectral range. Numerical simulations are used to investigate the influence of the main geometrical parameters on the spectral absorptance and to identify an optimized configuration. The optimized structure achieves an absorption enhancement of 391% compared with a flat steel reference. The improved optical response is attributed to the optimized high-aspect-ratio geometry, which enhances multiple scattering and light trapping, thereby increasing the effective light-matter interaction area. These results demonstrate the potential of bioinspired geometric scaling as an effective strategy for engineering efficient infrared absorbers and tailoring their spectral response for thermal radiation management and infrared photonic applications.
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BibTeX
@misc{marchand2026midinfrared,
title = {{A Mid-Infrared Absorber Inspired by the Wing-Scale Photonic Structure of Troides magellanus}},
author = {Amandine Marchand and Kevin Delmote and Olivier Deparis and Sébastien R. Mouchet},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.01274},
eprint = {2610.01274},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01274},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A Mid-Infrared Absorber Inspired by the Wing-Scale Photonic Structure of Troides magellanus
AU - Amandine Marchand
AU - Kevin Delmote
AU - Olivier Deparis
AU - Sébastien R. Mouchet
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.01274
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01274
AB - Growing environmental and energy-related challenges have intensified the search for technologies capable of improving energy recovery and resource efficiency. Bioinspired photonic structures offer promising opportunities for the development of efficient infrared absorbers by exploiting optical mechanisms found in natural systems. In this work, we present a bioinspired approach for the design and optimization of a broadband mid-infrared absorber based on the highly absorbing wing scales of the Troides magellanus Magellan birdwing butterfly. The characteristic geometry of the biological structure is rescaled and adapted to shift its optical response from the visible to the infrared spectral range. Numerical simulations are used to investigate the influence of the main geometrical parameters on the spectral absorptance and to identify an optimized configuration. The optimized structure achieves an absorption enhancement of 391% compared with a flat steel reference. The improved optical response is attributed to the optimized high-aspect-ratio geometry, which enhances multiple scattering and light trapping, thereby increasing the effective light-matter interaction area. These results demonstrate the potential of bioinspired geometric scaling as an effective strategy for engineering efficient infrared absorbers and tailoring their spectral response for thermal radiation management and infrared photonic applications.
ER -