Introduction to Nano-optics

About

The science and engineering associated with light-matter interactions in nanostructured materials is of crucial importance both in next-generation photonic technologies and in fundamental explorations at the boundary of classical and quantum physics. This course introduces tools used to model and understand the behavior of light in atoms and materials that are structured on small scales compared with the free-space optical wavelength, and is intended for students with a background in the physical sciences or engineering with a familiarity of basic electromagnetism and quantum mechanics.

We will review simple concepts of electromagnetism, relating far and near-field microscopy, propagating and evanescent waves, as well as linear and nonlinear response theory based on classical and quantum mechanical approaches. These concepts will then be applied to study light-matter interactions in quantum light emitters and low-dimensional systems, with special emphasis on plasmon- and exciton-polaritons in 2D materials (e.g., graphene or atomically-thin semiconductors) for applications in optical sensing, thermo-optical phenomena, all-optical transistors, quantum light generation, and quantum information technology.