Understanding Structure-Function Relationships in Cephalopod-Inspired Optical Materials
Abstract
The DoD has a long-standing interest in advanced nighttime stealth and camouflage technologies. This interest has been spurred by the need to protect the modern warfighter and his equipment from detection under a variety of battlefield conditions. Herein, we describe a systematic strategy for developing a relationship between the structure and optical functionality of cephalopod-inspired optical coatings. We first propose to systematically characterize the nanoscale structure of these coatings with electron microscopy and grazing incidence x-ray diffraction. We then intend to apply a simple theoretical framework to correlate the structure of our coatings with their emergent optical properties. In turn, we plan to develop a detailed understanding of the fundamental principles that govern the performance of our materials. We anticipate that the insight gleaned from our studies will enable the design of advanced biologically inspired dynamic camouflage.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 06, 2017
- Source ID
- FA95501710024
Entities
People
- Alon Gorodetsky
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of California, Irvine