Motoichi Ohtsu

Intrinsic features of the optical near field open a new frontier in optical science and technology by finally overcoming the diffraction limit to reach nanometric dimensions. But this book goes beyond near-field optical microscopy to cover local spectroscopy, nanoscale optical processing and storage, quantum near-field optics, and atom manipulation. Near-Field Nano/Atom Optics and Technology provides the first complete and systematically compiled account of the science and technology required to generate the near field, and features applications including imaging of biological specimens and diagnostics for semiconductor nanomaterials and devices. This monograph will be invaluable to researchers who want to implement near-field technology in their own work, and it can also be used as a textbook for graduate or undergraduate students.

Novel Devices and Atom Manipulation, the second and concluding volume of Progress in Nano-Electro-Optics, focuses on applications to novel devices and atom manipulation. Each chapter is written by a leading scientists in the field. Part II addresses the latest developments in nano-optical techniques, dealing with topics such as: the reasons that the resolution of nano-electro-optical techniques extend beyond the diffraction limit; applications of excitonic polaritons to opto-electronic devices; instrumentation of near-field optical microscopy to study quantum confined systems; and atom manipulation by optical near-field techniques. Together with volume I (Basics and Theory of Near-Field Optics), these overviews are a valuable resource for engineers and scientists working in the field of nano-electro-optics

In the 1990s, optical technology and photonics industry developed fast, but further progress became difficult due to a fundamental limit of light known as the diffraction limit. This limit could be overcome using the novel technology of nano-optics or nanophotonics in which the size of the electromagnetic field is decreased down to the nanoscale and is used as a carrier for signal transmission, processing, and fabrication. Such a decrease beyond the diffraction limit is possible by using optical near-fields. The true nature of nano-optics and nanophotonics involves not only their abilities to meet the above requirements but also their abilities to realize qualitative innovations in photonic devices, fabrication techniques, energy conversion and information processing systems. The objective of this work is to review the innovations of optical science and technology by nano-optics and nanophotonics. While in conventional optical science and technology, light and matter are discussed separately, in nano-optics and nanophotonics, light and matter have to be regarded as being coupled to each other, and the energy flow between nanoparticles is bidirectional. This means that nano-optics and nanophotonics have to be regarded as a technology fusing optical fields and matter. This unique work reviews and covers the most recent topics of nano-optics, applications to device operations, fabrication techniques, energy conversion, information processing, architectures and algorithms. Each chapter is written by the leading scientists in the relevant field. Thus, this work will provide high-quality scientific and technical information to scientists, engineers, and graduate students who are and will be engaged in R&D of nano-optics and nanophotonics. Especially, the topics to be covered by this work will be popularly used by the engineers in the rapidly growing market of the optical energy conversion.

This volume focuses on fundamental aspects of nano-electro-optics. Starting with fiber probes and related devices for generating and detecting the optical near-field with high efficiency and resolution, the next chapter addresses the modulation of an electron beam by optical near-fields. Further topics include: fluorescence spectroscopy, in which sample molecules are excited by the evanescent surface plasmon field close to metallic surfaces; spatially resolved near-field photoluminescence spectroscopy of semiconductor quantum dots, which will become an essential issue in future electro-optical devices and systems; and, finally, the quantum theory of the optical near-field. This latter theory accounts for all the essential features of the interaction between optical near-fields and nanomaterials, atoms and molecules. Together these overviews will be a valuable resource for engineers and scientists working in the field of nano-electro-optics.

This book focuses on the recent progress in nanophotonics technology to be used to develop novel nano-optical devices, fabrication technology and advanced systems. It reviews light-emitting diodes and lasers made of silicon bulk crystals in which the light emission principle is based on dressed-photon-phonons. Further topics include: theoretical studies of optoelectronic properties of molecular condensates for organic solar cells and light-emitting devices, the basics of topological light beams together with their important properties for laser spectroscopy, spatially localized modes emerging in nonlinear discrete dynamic systems and theoretical methods to explore the dynamics of nanoparticles by the light-induced force of tailored light fields under thermal fluctuations. These topics are reviewed by leading scientists. This overview is a variable resource for engineers and scientists working in the field of nanophotonics.

Using the thin film of light, the optical near field, that is localized on the surface of a nanometric material has removed the diffraction limit as a barrier to imaging on the nano- and atomic scales. But a paradigm shift in the concepts of optics and optical technology is required to understand the instrinsic nature of the near fields and how best to exploit them. Professors Ohstu and Kobayashi crafted Optical Near Fields on the basis of their hypothesis that the full potential for utilizing optical near fields can be realized only with novel nanometric processing, functions, and manipulation, i.e., by controlling the intrinsic interaction between nanometer-sized optical near fields and material systems, and further, atoms. The book presents physically intuitive concepts and theories for students, engineers, and scientists engaged in research in nanophotonics and atom photonics.

This book reviews the resonant interaction between electromagnetic field/light and electrons/matters in a nanometric volume for the first time to invite the readers to a new field of nano-photonic/electronic science and technology. Especially, the unique feature of this book is to introduce the concept of nano-optics, i.e., near field optics into discussions on mesosopic systems. This book will enable undergraduate and graduate students, junior scientists, and engineers to systematicaly study the physics, diagnostics, and fabrication on nano-sized materials and devices.