Journal
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
Volume 54, Issue 42, Pages 12426-12430Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201502268
Keywords
biomineralization; guanine crystals; structural colors; tunable photonic crystals; X-ray diffraction
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Funding
- Israel Science foundation [2012\224330star]
- German Research Foundation grant within the framework of the Deutsch-Israelische Projektkooperation
- European Community under BioStruct-X [283570]
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The fresh water fish neon tetra has the ability to change the structural color of its lateral stripe in response to a change in the light conditions, from blue-green in the light-adapted state to indigo in the dark-adapted state. The colors are produced by constructive interference of light reflected from stacks of intracellular guanine crystals, forming tunable photonic crystal arrays. We have used micro X-ray diffraction to track in time distinct diffraction spots corresponding to individual crystal arrays within a single cell during the color change. We demonstrate that reversible variations in crystal tilt within individual arrays are responsible for the light-induced color variations. These results settle a long-standing debate between the two proposed models, the Venetian blinds model and the accordion model. The insight gained from this biogenic light-induced photonic tunable system may provide inspiration for the design of artificial optical tunable systems.
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