Replication of biotemplates for the development of highly efficient biomimetic optical metamaterials and devices

Biomimetics involves the implementation of ideas and concepts from nature in different technoscientific fields. Aiming at the further development of biomimetic optical metamaterials and devices, we devised the conformal-evaporated-filmby- rotation (CEFR) technique to fabricate inorganic replicas of biotemplates with high reliability and fidelity at the micro- and nano-scales. Some potential applications include high-sensitivity chemical sensors and biosensors, textured coatings for solar cells and other energy-harvesting structures, environmental sensors, high-speed motion detectors, surveillance systems, cameras for image-guided surgeries, as well as for many clinical treatments that can be controlled by implanted light-delivery devices. Moreover, we demonstrated the successful conformal coating of the external surface of a MEMS comb resonator by the CEFR technique, thereby extending application to microelectronics.