Engineering optical defects in biopolymer photonic lattices

Abstract

We report the design, fabrication and characterization of a silk inverse opal with engineered photonic bandgap. The realization of a controlled defect in the structure provides another step along the way to the realization of high-performance biocompatible and implantable optical components with programmable spectral responses that could be integrated with living material and suited for work in the biological therapeutic window.