Principal Investigator Mathias Kolle
Project Website http://bioinspiredoptics.mit.edu/
The mission of the Laboratory for Bio-Inspired Photonic Engineering is leveraging insight into biological light manipulation strategies, the Laboratory for Bio-inspired Photonic Engineering explores cost-efficient, scalable micro-fabrication techniques and biomimetic morphogenesis processes to build libraries of multifunctional photonic materials for 21st century optical technology.
Research in the Laboratory for Biologically Inspired Photonic Engineering is focused on the fundamental and applied aspects of conceiving and fabricating multifunctional, hierarchically-structured, bio-inspired material systems with particular focus on stimuli-responsive and dynamically tunable optical performance.
In this regard, we can benefit in several ways from highly sophisticated material solutions that have convergently evolved in various organisms. In particular, we explore design concepts found in biological photonic architectures, seek to understand the mechanisms underlying morphogenesis of biological optical materials, aim to devise viable manufacturing strategies that can benefit from insight in biological formation processes and the use of established synthetic routines alike, and ultimately strive to realize new photonic materials with tailor-made optical properties.
The Lab's project portfolio broadly covers research in biological and bio-inspired multifunctional materials with an optical function or application potential in novel optical technology. A summary is shown in the graphic below and some project details are provided beneath: