Transmission Mueller-matrix spectroscopic ellipsometry is applied to the cuticle of the beetle Cetonia aurata in the spectral range 300-1000 nm. The cuticle is optically reciprocal and exhibits circular Bragg filter features for green light. By using differential decomposition of the Mueller matrix, the circular and linear birefringence as well as dichroism of the beetle cuticle are quantified. A maximum value of structural optical activity of 560 degrees/mm is found. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America
Funding Agencies|Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University; Carl Tryggers Foundation [CTS:31]; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation [2004.0233]; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT); Vetenskapsradet (VR) [621-2011-4283]