Nano-optics can be defined as a branch of nanoscience dealing with light-matter interactions on the nanoscale. The term was coined in early 90-ties when rapid advances in nanofabrication, optical nano-characterization and computational electromagnetics led to discovering and making use of fascinating phenomena occurring when optical radiation interacts with nanostructured materials.
Our current research interests are primarily concentrated within the physics and applications of electromagnetic excitations coupled with electron oscillations in metal nanostructures, i.e. with surface plasmon (SP) modes. In particular, we investigate various approaches for efficient excitation of localized and propagating SPs, realization of SP-driven resonances, associated field enhancement effects and their usage for optical sensing and Raman spectroscopy, as well as SP-based guiding and manipulating of radiation beyond the diffraction limit, developing thereby optical interconnects at the nanoscale. Our research within plasmonics is supported by FTP-project "Active Nano-Plasmonics (ANAP)" and integrated into European research via "COST action MP0803 — Plasmonic Components and Devices".
Since January 2010, our group participates in the first European research project “PLATON” that aims to utilize plasmonics for system-level applications and bring them into a Tb/s optical routing fabric for data interconnects.
Our recent paper on the cover of Annalen der Fysik