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Light-harvesting complexes in natural photosynthetic systems, such as those in purple bacteria, consist of photo-reactive chromophores embedded in densely packed "antenna" systems organized in well-defined nanostructures. In the case of purple bacteria, the chromophore antennas are composed of natural J-aggregates such as bacteriochlorophylls and carotenoids. Inspired by the molecular composition of such biological systems, we create a library of organic materials composed of densely packed J-aggregates in a polymeric matrix, in which the matrix mimics a protein scaffold. This library of organic materials shows polaritonic properties which can be tuned from the visible to the infrared by choice of the model molecule. Inspired by the molecular architecture of the light-harvesting complexes of \textit{Rhodospirillum molischianum} bacteria, we study the light-matter interactions of J-aggregate-based nanorings with similar dimensions to the analogous natural nanoscale architectures. Electromagnetic simulations show that these nanorings of J-aggregates can act as resonators, with subwavelength confinement of light while concentrating the electric field in specific regions. These results open the door to bio-inspired building blocks for all-organic metamaterials while offering a new perspective on light-matter interactions at the nanoscale in densely packed organic matter in biological organisms including photosynthetic organelles., Comment: Including supplementary information

Optical Tamm States (OTS) are confined optical modes that can occur at the interface between two highly reflective structures. However, due to the strong reflectance required, their implemen-tation with highly processable and metal-free flexible materials has proven challenging. Herein, we develop the first structure supporting OTS based only on organic polymeric materials, demon-strating a photonic platform based on non-critical, widely available, and easily processable mate-rials. The structures fabricated present large areas and consist of a narrowband multi-layered polymeric Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) followed by a thin film of J-aggregate molecular exci-tonic material that can act as a highly reflective surface within a narrowband range. We take ad-vantage of the narrowband spectral response of the DBR and of the reflective molecular layer to tune the OTS band by varying the periodicity of the multilayer, opening the door for the fabrica-tion of OTS structures based on lightweight integrable excitonic devices with cost-effective proce-dures., Comment: 15 pages, 8 (3+5) figures, supplementary information included

Natural photosynthetic photonic nanostructures can show sophisticated light matter-interactions including enhanced light absorption by slow light even for highly pigmented systems. Beyond fundamental biology aspects these natural nanostructures are very attractive as blueprints for advanced photonic devices. But the soft-matter biomimetic implementations of such nanostructures is challenging due to the low refractive index contrast of most organic photonic structures. Excitonic organic material with near zero index (NZI) optical properties allow overcoming these bottlenecks. Here we demonstrate that the combination of NZI thin films into photonic multilayers like the ones found in nature enables broadband tuneable strong reflectance as well as slow light absorption enhancement and tailored photoluminescence properties in the full VIS spectrum. Moreover, it is shown that this complex optical response is tuneable, paving the way towards the development of active devices based on all polymer and near zero index materials photonic structures.

Diatoms are microscopic algae found in all of Earths water courses. They produce frustules, porous silica exoskeletons, grown by precipitation of silicic acid from water. Frustule components, known as girdles, from some diatom species also feature highly periodic pore arrays with properties on the same scale and quality of ordering as manufactured photonic crystals. Here, the girdles of two diatom species with various lattice constants are used as bio-silica scaffolds for plasmonic crystals, combined with metals chosen for spectral agreement between permittivity and photonic crystal properties. The use of frustules as scaffolds for plasmonic application has been tested earlier, as nano-porous features can enhance scattering and local hotspots, useful for sensing application or SERS. However, both the use of girdles and of continuous metal films are new approaches offering previously unseen plasmonic effects. Angularly resolved dispersions from reflection Fourier spectroscopy are provided for Coscinodiscus granii girdles, forming well-ordered square lattices, and Coscinodiscus wailesii, forming ordered hexagonal lattices, covered with a 40 nm film of silver or with 40 nm of gold, respectively. These were confirmed with optical modelling of the 3D systems, including both metal surface layers and internal frustule structures, allowing for the calculation of dispersions and electric fields. Measurements are further compared with structures produced via Focused Ion Beam microscopy, demonstrating the advantages of girdles as photonic crystal scaffolds and as an alternative to conventional plasmonic crystal fabrication. The results demonstrate that high-quality plasmonic crystal scaffolds from diatoms are available in nature, and their natural diversity can be applied in a controlled way to obtain plasmonic crystals with a wide range of behaviours and spectral responses., Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures

We show that micron-scale two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb microwells can significantly improve the stability of blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs). Polymeric microwells made by direct laser writing improve various features of the blue phase (BP) including a dramatic extension of stable temperature range and a large increase both in reflectivity and thermal stability of the reflective peak wavelength. These results are mainly attributed to the omni-directional anchoring of the isotropically oriented BP molecules at the polymer walls of the hexagonal microwells and at the top and bottom substrates. This leads to an omni-directional stabilization of the entire BPLC system. This study not only provides a novel insight into the mechanism for the BP formation in the 2D microwell but also points to an improved route to stabilize BP using 2D microwell arrays., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures

We propose a method to directly visualize the photonic band-structure of micron size photonic crystals using wide angle spectroscopy. By extending Fourier Imaging Spectroscopy sensitivity into the infrared range we have obtained accurate measurements of the band-structures along the high-symmetry directions (X-W-K-L-U) of polymeric three-dimensional rod-connected diamond photonic crystals. Our implementation also allows us to record single-wavelength reflectance far field patterns showing a very good agreement with simulations of the same designs. This technique is suitable for the characterization of photonic structures working in the infrared and in particular, to obtain band-structure information of complete photonic band gap materials., Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures

Defect cavities in 3D photonic crystal can trap and store light in the smallest volumes allowable in dielectric materials, enhancing non-linearities and cavity QED effects. Here, we study inverse rod-connected diamond (RCD) crystals containing point defect cavities using plane-wave expansion and finite-difference time domain methods. By optimizing the dimensions of the crystal, wide photonic band gaps are obtained. Mid-bandgap resonances can then be engineered by introducing point defects in the crystal. We investigate a variety of single spherical defects at different locations in the unit cell focusing on high-refractive-index contrast (3.3:1) inverse RCD structures; quality factors (Q-factors) and mode volumes of the resonant cavity modes are calculated. By choosing a symmetric arrangement, consisting of a single sphere defect located at the center of a tetrahedral arrangement, mode volumes < 0.06 cubic wavelengths are obtained, a record for high index cavities., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures

This paper presents fabrication, measurement and modelling results for a metal-dielectric-metal metasurface absorber for solar thermal applications. The structure uses amorphous carbon as an inter-layer between thin gold films with the upper film patterned with a 2D periodic array using focused ion beam etching. The patterned has been optimised to give high absorptance from 400-1200nm and low absorptance above this wavelength range to minimise thermal radiation and hence obtain higher temperature performance. Wide angle absorptance results are shown and detailed modelling of a realistic nanostructured upper layer results in excellent agreement between measured and modelled results. The use of gold in this paper is a first step towards a high temperature metasurface where gold can be replaced by other refractory metals such as tungsten or chrome.

We report the first experimental observation of an Excitonic Optical Tamm State supported at the interface between a periodic multilayer dielectric structure and an organic dye-doped polymer layer. The existence of such states is enabled by the metal-like optical properties of the excitonic layer based on aggregated dye molecules. Experimentally determined dispersion curves, together with simulated data, including field profiles, allow us to identify the nature of these new modes. Our results demonstrate the potential of organic excitonic materials as a powerful means to control light at the nanoscale, offering the prospect of a new alternative type of nanophotonics based on molecular materials., Comment: 13 pages plus 8 pages of supplementary, 4 figures

We present the simulation, fabrication, and optical characterization of low-index polymeric rod-connected diamond (RCD) structures. Such complex three-dimensional photonic crystal structures are created via direct laser writing by two-photon polymerization. To our knowledge, this is the first measurement at near-infrared wavelengths, showing partial photonic bandgaps for this structure. We characterize structures in transmission and reflection using angular resolved Fourier image spectroscopy to visualize the band structure. Comparison of the numerical simulations of such structures with the experimentally measured data show good agreement for both P- and S-polarizations.