Spider Silk: Mother Nature’s Bio-Superlens

It was recently discovered that transparent
microspheres and cylinders can function as a super-resolution
lens (i.e., superlens) to focus light beyond the diffraction limit.
A number of high-resolution applications based on these lenses
have been successfully demonstrated and span nanoscopy,
imaging, and spectroscopy. Fabrication of these superlenses,
however, is often complex and requires sophisticated engineering
processes. Clearly an easier model candidate, such as a
naturally occurring superlens, is highly desirable. Here, we
report for the first time a biological superlens provided by
nature: the minor ampullate spider silk spun from the Nephila
spider. This natural biosuperlens can distinctly resolve 100 nm features under a conventional white-light microscope with peak
wavelength at 600 nm, attaining a resolution of λ/6 that is well beyond the classical limit. Thus, our work opens a new door to
develop biology-based optical systems that may provide a new solution to integrating optics in biological systems.