Nanophotonics Dressed Photon Technology for Qualitatively Innovative Optical Devices, Fabrication, and Systems

Nanophotonics Dressed Photon Technology for Qualitatively Innovative Optical Devices, Fabrication, and Systems 

Nanophotonics, proposed by the author in 1993 [1-3], is a novel optical technology that utilizes the optical near-field. The optical near-field is the dressed photons that mediate the interaction between nanometric particles located in close proximity to each other. Nanophotonics allows the realization of qualitative innovations in photonic devices, fabrication techniques, and systems by utilizing novel functions and phenomena enabled by optical near-field interactions that would otherwise be impossible if only conventional propagating light were used. In this sense, the principles and concepts of nanophotonics are completely different from those of conventional wave-optical technology, encompassing photonic crystals, plasmon-ics, metamaterials, and silicon photonics. This review describes these differences and shows examples of such qualitative innovations. 

Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 

Ohtsu (ed.). Progress in Nanophotonics 1, Nano-Optics and Nanophotonics, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-17481-0 l, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 

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