Micro- and Nano-Structured Bacteria Growth Media for Planar Bio-Photonics

Bio-inspired and biodegradable quantum optics scenarios constitute a pathway toward environmentally friendly front-end technologies. Such an inspiring perspective necessitates the replacement of classic gain materials with a biological counterpart like photoluminescent bacteria. It is easy to imagine that, in this case, a planar and cell-viable substitute of classic bulk solid-states resonators can be highly beneficial. In this paper a micro- and nano-photonic structuration of both a standard and a functionalized version of a typical bacterial growth medium (Luria-Bertani Agar - LBA) is successfully realized. Three structures belonging to the categories of photonic crystals are replicated, such as quasi-crystals and meta-surfaces, demonstrating how the proposed media can be used as templates for high-end photonic applications. The optical quality of the replicated structures is confirmed by far-field diffraction measurements. The structured growth media allow for a broad control of the surface wettability by accessing a so-called Wenzel state, in which the original hydrophilicity of a material is increased due to the photonic structuration. Finally, the suitability of the nano-structured LBA as a plasmonic platform is evidenced. The proposed micro-and nano-structured photonic growth media constitute the first, fundamental step toward quantum optical frameworks from biological media. Bio-photonic frameworks in which bulk resonant elements are replaced with a bio-inspired counterpart constitute the horizon of environmentally friendly photonic technologies. Here, high-quality micro- and nano-photonic structures are produced via replica molding in pure and blended Luria Bertani Agar growth media. Being cell-viable, the structures host luminescent bacteria as a biological optical source to engineer sophisticated light-matter interactions.image