Photonics Print Optical Metamaterials as Fast as a Newspaper

Peacock feathers and butterfly wings owe their colors not to pigments but to microscopic structures that refract and scatter light. Researchers from China and Singapore are now reporting a breakthrough: They have developed new optical metamaterials and a printing process that is said to be as fast and cost-effective as printing a daily newspaper.

A peacock feather shimmers in blue and green, a butterfly wing flashes in colors that never fade—behind this lies no pigment or dye, but a tiny structure that captures, refracts, and scatters light. Scientists have been trying for years to replicate these "structural colors" found in nature. Now, researchers from China and Singapore report a breakthrough: they have developed a new type of optical metamaterial and, at the same time, a printing process that is said to be as fast and cheap "as printing a daily newspaper."