Bionics has been the source of many innovations since a long time ago, and in recent years, fast and flexible 3D printing technology has become one of the important forces of innovation. So, if the two are combined, can they produce stronger power? Recently, the Swinburne Microoptics Centre in Australia gave the answer to the question – they are developing a brighter and better light-responsive electronic screen through high-precision lithography 3D printing technology, inspired by the wings of a butterfly called the Yellow Star Green Butterfly.
According to antarctic bears, the wings of the yellow star green butterfly are very bright in color, and its forewings are very unique - the lower part is bright green and can emit light, and this luminous effect is actually the light diffraction caused by the special intertwined complex structure on its curved surface in a unique way. This micro- and nanoscale structure is called gyroid, and the researchers' goal is to reproduce it through 3D printing technology to take advantage of its unique optical properties.
Dr. Zongsong Gan, the leader of the research and development project, said that if this gyoid structure is adopted, the screen can not only have a faster light response speed than the current one, but also have higher resolution and better mechanical strength.
"The gyroid structure can be used to achieve more compact optoelectronic components, because its size is very small, so it can be integrated into a large number of individual chips. But for 3D devices with weaker mechanical strength, this will also increase the probability of their structural collapse. However, our technology and the characteristics of this microstructure are enough to solve this pain point. ”
Currently, the research is supported by funding from the Australian Research Council's Research Equipment Centre for Ultra-High Bandwidth Optical Systems and the Swinburne Centre for Microoptics, one of the leading institutions in the field of biological and nanophhotonics research.