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Bio‐inspired and biodegradable quantum optics scenarios constitute a pathway toward environmentally friendly front‐end technologies. Such an inspiring perspective necessitates the replacement of classic gain materials with a biological counterpart like photoluminescent bacteria. It is easy to imagine that, in this case, a planar and cell‐viable substitute of classic bulk solid‐states resonators can be highly beneficial. In this paper a micro‐ and nano‐photonic structuration of both a standard and a functionalized version of a typical bacterial growth medium (Luria‐Bertani Agar – LBA) is successfully realized. Three structures belonging to the categories of photonic crystals are replicated, such as quasi‐crystals and meta‐surfaces, demonstrating how the proposed media can be used as templates for high‐end photonic applications. The optical quality of the replicated structures is confirmed by far‐field diffraction measurements. The structured growth media allow for a broad control of the surface wettability by accessing a so‐called Wenzel state, in which the original hydrophilicity of a material is increased due to the photonic structuration. Finally, the suitability of the nano‐structured LBA as a plasmonic platform is evidenced. The proposed micro‐and nano‐structured photonic growth media constitute the first, fundamental step toward quantum optical frameworks from biological media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanomaterials represent a class of materials based on nanoscale structures. Nanomaterials are currently used in a wide variety of applications, including, optoelectronics, energy conversion, biology health care and medicine. Among different types of nanomaterials, gold nanoparticles have received considerable attention in disease diagnosis and therapy due to their optical and chemical properties (Liz-Marzan in Mater Today 7:26-31, ). This paper reports the main optical and photo-thermal properties of gold nanoparticles. Particularly, we show that gold nanorods embedded in cholesteric liquid crystals demonstrate to control the 'selective reflection' of a light beam. Investigation of the optical properties of the obtained material reveals an original and efficient tool to detect temperature variations at the nanoscale useful for photo-thermal based therapies applications. Finally, the concept of 'nanoparticle-protein corona interaction can be exploited for application ranging from regenerative medicine to theranostics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]