Abstract

The theory of the optical properties of an absorbing periodically stratified medium is applied to the spectral and angular dependence of the reflectivity of mollusk shells, which are almost-periodic structures of aragonite plates alternating with thinner organic layers. The reflectivity of $s$ and $p$ polarizations show strong variation as the angle of incidence passes through the stop bands of the corresponding ideal non-absorbing periodic structure. For both polarizations of incident light, and at most angles of incidence, the blue and green wavelengths are reflected more than the red—hence the blue-green appearance of mollusk shells.

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Light in periodically stratified media

John Lekner
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 11(11) 2892-2899 (1994)

Low-reflection region within the stop band of a finite or absorbing periodic multilayer

John Lekner
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 33(9) 1648-1653 (2016)

Iridescence of a shell of mollusk Haliotis Glabra

T. L. Tan, D. Wong, and P. Lee
Opt. Express 12(20) 4847-4854 (2004)

Iridescence color of a shell of the mollusk Pinctada Margaritifera caused by diffraction

Y. Liu, J. E. Shigley, and K. N. Hurwit
Opt. Express 4(5) 177-182 (1999)

Inversion of the s and p reflectances of absorbing media

John Lekner
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 14(6) 1355-1358 (1997)