Nonlinear Optics of Nanostructures

The optical properties of nanostructures are fascinating and useful for a variety of applications. Nanotechnologies are poised to revolutionize medicine, manufacturing, energy production, and other fundamental features of everyday life in the 21st century. The unique nonlinear optical properties of nanoscale materials are size dependent; they do not naturally occur in larger bulk materials. The selected collection of papers included in this special issue demonstrates that nonlinear optics of the bulk contrasts markedly with the current state of knowledge about the optics of surfaces and interfaces in nanomaterials. It is challenging to understand optical properties of different complex materials (aggregated molecular and polymer systems, crystalline and noncrystalline solids) at the microscopic scale. One of the major objectives of nanoscience is a detailed understanding of the physics and chemistry behind the interaction between objects (surfaces, particles, and individual molecules) at the nanoscale. Questions need to be answered regarding how nanoparticles can be stabilized, and in what media, how nanoparticles interact and influence each other and solid surfaces, and what proportions in a hybrid system make a critical difference. How can these characteristics be realistically predicted and extracted from nonlinear optics? The papers of this special issue address the following topics: