Biological photonic crystals: diatoms for the control of absorption and emission of light

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Thomas Fuhrmann-Lieker
• Subject Area: Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2003 to 2006
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5403139

The project aims at the application of photonic crystals of biological origin for controlling the adsorption and emission of light. As prototypical example, the diatom Coscinodicus granii is chosen, the silicea cell wall of which exhibits a very regular hexagonal pore structure. The chemical structure of the cell wall allows covalent junctions for implementation into silicon microtechnology and the attachment of functional organic dyes as optically active components. In the project, the light path within a diatom cell structure and the local efficiency of light adsorption and emitting is investigated. The possibility of obtaining determined feature sizes by means of cell culivation will be explored.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1113: Photonic Crystals