Colors Due to Different Coloration Mechanisms—Structural Colors—

Abstract

Structural colors are widely distributed in the natural world and have attracted considerable attention as nanostructures anticipating a coming photonic era. The fundamental optical processes contributing to the structural colors are described in relation to their coloration mechanisms, which include thin-film and multilayer interference, photonic crystal, diffraction grating and light scattering. Finally, the principles of structural colorations in the natural world and the importance of multi-functionality found in the biological system are emphasized.