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The Nanoscale Optical Properties of Complex Nanostructures

Part of the book series: Springer Theses ((Springer Theses))

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Abstract

The drive for miniaturization has pushed nanotechnology to the forefront of the materials science community. Perhaps the most famous example has been Moore’s law, the prediction by G.E. Moore that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit would double every 2 years. However, the desire for devices with real-world applications and increasingly small dimensions extends far past transistors, as miniaturization has become a key aspect across many subfields of science.

As device dimensions push into the nanoscale, one of the main focuses of the research community has been on the interactions of light and matter. Optical nanostructures are of significant interest across a wide range of technological subfields such as photovoltaics, biomedicine, catalysis, sensing and detection, laser optics, and optoelectronics.

As devices have pushed deeper and deeper into the nanoscale, they have encountered new regimes where complex physical phenomena that were dormant at the micro and macroscales rear their heads. The result has been an increased research effort into nanoscale optical effects that has resulted in parallel endeavors in the fields of nanoscale fabrication, and tremendous advances have been made in terms of colloidal synthesis, lithography, thin film deposition, self-assembly, and focused ion beam (FIB) techniques. As the control over materials in fabrication has increased, so has the precision required for device applications.

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  1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

    Jordan A. Hachtel

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Hachtel, J.A. (2018). Introduction. In: The Nanoscale Optical Properties of Complex Nanostructures. Springer Theses. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70259-9_1

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