Abstract:
Optical engineering has had a tremendous impact on our everyday lives, providing us with fiber optic communications and optical data storage. However, manipulating light on the nanoscale level can be a Herculean task, since the nanoscale level is so incredibly tiny – less than one tenth the wavelength of light. Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory are making strides towards understanding and manipulating light at the nanoscale by using the unusual optical properties of metal nanoparticles, opening the door to microscopic-sized devices such as optical circuits and switches.