Fig. 1.

Engineering inspiration from highly ordered cuticular nanostructures of a firefly light organ. (A) The optical image of a firefly (L. lateralis Motschulsky) in male. The SEM images of (B) abdominal segments of a firefly in male including normal (N) and lantern (L) cuticles, (C) amorphous nanostructures on the normal cuticle, (D) highly ordered nanostructures on the lantern cuticle and (E) a transverse cross-section of the light organ. (F) Transmission of bioluminescent light (λ = 560 nm) through nanostructured surfaces on the lantern cuticle calculated by the FDTD method. The results show the maximum value at 250 nm in period, 150 nm in width, and 110 nm in height, very similar to natural one. This result clearly explains that the highly ordered cuticular nanostructures surrounding the ventral photogenic layer contribute to high extraction of bioluminescent light outside the lantern cuticle. Anatomical comparisons between (G) a firefly lantern and (H) a high-power LED package. Inspired from a firefly lantern comprising a dorsal layer, a photogenic layer, and a cuticle, a high-power LED package has a similar configuration of a reflector cup, an LED chip, and a lens with nanostructures. Like the cuticular nanostructures of a firefly lantern, the nanostructures on LED lens surfaces can serve as highly efficient extraction of the LED light for a high-power LED package.