Optical-effect Analysis of Nanoscale Collagen Fibers

To understand the cause of the high light transmittance of the human eye, the optical effects of the collagen fibers of the stroma layer, which constitute the majority of the cornea, were analyzed. These collagen fibers, approximately 20 nm in diameter, have a regular arrangement. Accordingly, the optical properties of the collagen fibers and the fiber layer were analyzed by simulation. A standing wave was formed in the incident space by the overlapping incident light and the light reflected by the plate. In addition, it was confirmed that when the collagen fibers are arranged in a layer, the light transmittance periodically changes, depending on the number of fiber layers. The standing wave was formed in the incident space, and the light's intensity distribution was changed by the nanoscale collagen fibers in the section with the collagen layer, which affected the transmittance. To explain this phenomenon, the collagen fiber was defined as a second light source, and an attempt was made to describe the simulation results in terms of overlap of the incident light with the light emitted from the collagen fiber.