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The corneal cones of Limulus as optimised light concentrators

Nature volume 253, pages 115–116 (1975)Cite this article

Abstract

IN their external shape and optical properties, the crystalline cones of the ommatidia in the compound eye of Limulus polyphemus strikingly resemble ideal light collectors. Such devices were developed1 in a totally different context: for the purpose of optimising the collection of the extremely faint radiation produced in a transparent medium by faster-than-light charged particles (Cherenkov light). Ideal light collectors are ogival-shaped light guides designed to maximise the concentration of diffuse light within a specified angular acceptance. These light guides are optically homogeneous and derive their characteristic properties from the specific shape of the exterior surface which is made specularly reflecting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Enrico Fermi Institute,

    R. LEVI-SETTI, D. A. PARK & R. WINSTON

  2. The Department of Physics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 60637

    R. LEVI-SETTI, D. A. PARK & R. WINSTON

Authors
  1. R. LEVI-SETTI
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  2. D. A. PARK
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  3. R. WINSTON
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LEVI-SETTI, R., PARK, D. & WINSTON, R. The corneal cones of Limulus as optimised light concentrators. Nature 253, 115–116 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/253115a0

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