Bio-based Nanomaterials for Photonic Applications

Ouchen, Fahima, Air Force Research Lab.; Heckman, Emily M., Air Force Research Lab.; Bartsch, Carrie M., Air Force Research Lab.; Aga, Roberto S., Air Force Research Lab.; Lombardi, Jack P., Binghamton Univ.; Husaini, Saima, Air Force Research Lab.; Fehrman Cory, Emily; Yaney, Perry P., Univ. of Dayton; Rau, Ileana, Univ. Politehnica of Bucharest; Kajzar, François, Univ. Politehnica of Bucharest; Grote, James G., Air Force Research Lab.

doi:10.1117/3.2196174.ch7

Book: New Horizons in Nanoscience and Engineering

Editor(s): David L. Andrews; James G. Grote

Author(s): Fahima Ouchen, Emily Heckman, Carrie Bartsch, Roberto Aga, Jack Lombardi, Saima Husaini, Emily Fehrman Cory, Perry Yaney, Ileana Rau, François Kajzar, James Grote

Published: 2015

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2196174.ch7

Author Affiliations +

Abstract

It is appropriate to coin the term “biotronics” to signify the development and implementation of a new class of polymerspolymers, namely, biopolymers, for photonic and electronic applications. A prominent example of such non–fossil-fuel-based biopolymer materials are those derived from salmon deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), silksilk, and nucleobases, which prove to possess unique optical, electromagnetic, and, in the case of DNA, self-assembly properties that no other known polymers possess. These are also abundant, inexpensive, and green materials that will not deplete our natural resources or harm the environment. In the following, we therefore use the term biotronics to distinguish it from biophotonics—where the applications more often center on the use of photonics in medicine—which we address in the next chapter.