Photoacoustic spectroscopy Photoacoustic spectroscopy Photoacoustic spectroscopy is the measurement of the effect of absorbed electromagnetic energy (particularly of light) on matter by means of acoustic detection. The discovery of the photoacoustic effect dates to 1880 when Alexander Graham Bell showed that thin discs emitted sound when exposed to a beam of sunlight that was rapidly interrupted with a rotating slotted disk. The absorbed energy from the light causes local heating, generating a thermal expansion which creates a pressure wave or sound. Later Bell showed that materials exposed to the non-visible portions of the solar spectrum (i.e., the infrared and the ultraviolet) can
Ultraviolet communication in butterflies the pterins absorb the ultraviolet light. Thus, butterflies are able to reflect ultraviolet light as a result of the organization and composition of their wing scales resulting in thin layer constructive interference and can absorb ultraviolet through the action of pterin pigments. Butterflies receive ultraviolet signals by utilizing a special photoreceptor pigment in the butterfly eye. The butterfly eye is similar to the average insect eye in that it is composed of numerous ommatidia. Each butterfly ommatidium contains nine photoreceptors with generally each photoreceptor utilizing a single visual pigment. A UV sensitive visual pigment is responsible for a butterfly’s ability