What are the physical mechanisms that underlie the efficient generation and transfer of energy at the nanoscale? Nature seems to know the answer to this question, having optimised the process of photosynthesis in plants over millions of years of evolution. It is conceivable that humans could mimic this process using synthetic materials, and organic semiconductors have attracted a lot of attention in this respect. Once an organic semiconductor absorbs light, bound pairs of electrons with positively charged holes, termed `excitons', are formed. Excitons behave as fundamental energy carriers, hence understanding the physics behind their efficient generation and transfer is critical to realising the potential of organic semiconductors for light-harvesting and other applications, such as LEDs and transistors. However, this problem is extremely challenging since excitons can interact very strongly with photons. Moreover, simultaneously with the exciton motion, organic molecules can vibrate in hundreds of possible ways, having a very strong effect on energy transfer. The description of these complex phenomena is often beyond the reach of standard quantum mechanical methods which rely on the assumption of weak interactions between excitons, photons and vibrations. In this thesis, Antonios Alvertis addresses this problem through the development and application of a variety of different theoretical methods to the description of these strong interactions, providing pedagogical explanations of the underlying physics. A comprehensive introduction to organic semiconductors is followed by a review of the background theory that is employed to approach the relevant research questions, and the theoretical results are presented in close connection with experiment, yielding valuable insights for experimentalists and theoreticians alike.

Photonics has long been considered an attractive substrate for next generation implementations of machine-learning concepts. Reservoir Computing tremendously facilitated the realization of recurrent neural networks in analogue hardware. This concept exploits the properties of complex nonlinear dynamical systems, giving rise to photonic reservoirs implemented by semiconductor lasers, telecommunication modulators and integrated photonic chips.

This book focuses on recent research and developments on optical communications. The chapters present different aspects of optical communication systems, comprising high capacity transmission over long distances, coherent and intensity modulated technologies, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing, ultrafast switching techniques, and photonic integrated devices. Digital signal processing and error correction techniques are also addressed. The content is of interest to graduate students and researchers in optical communications.

Is designed to serve as a comprehensive and up-to-date manual for process, device, layout, and design engineers Covers topics that designers as well as layout and process engineers deal with every day, such as front-end-of-line (FEOL) and back-end-of-line BEOL DRs, coverage DRs, stressors DRs, and modeling, foundry reliability, and advance (20 nm) step-by-step process flow Can be used by those studying semiconductors and microelectronics as well as students and researchers in the fields of electrical engineering, physics, materials engineering, and chemical engineering

This book discusses the spectral properties of solid-state laser materials, including emission and absorption of light, the law of radiative and nonradiative transitions, the selection rule for optical transitions, and different calculation methods of the spectral parameters. The book includes a systematic presentation of the authors' own research works in this field, specifically addressing the stimulated nonradiative transition theory and the apparent crystal field model. This volume is helpful resource for researchers and graduate students in the fields of solid spectroscopy and solid-state laser material physics, while also serving as a valuable reference guide for instructors and advanced students of physics.

This book presents the Generalized Multipole Technique as a fast and powerful theoretical and computation tool to simulate light scattering by nonspherical particles. It also demonstrates the considerable potential of the method. In recent years, the concept has been applied in new fields, such as simulation of electron energy loss spectroscopy and has been used to extend other methods, like the null-field method, making it more widely applicable. The authors discuss particular implementations of the GMT methods, such as the Discrete Sources Method (DSM), Multiple Multipole Program (MMP), the Method of Auxiliary Sources (MAS), the Filamentary Current Method (FCM), the Method of Fictitious Sources (MFS) and the Null-Field Method with Discrete Sources (NFM-DS). The Generalized Multipole Technique is a surface-based method to find the solution of a boundary-value problem for a given differential equation by expanding the fields in terms of fundamental or other singular solutions of this equation. The amplitudes of these fundamental solutions are determined from the boundary condition at the particle surface. Electromagnetic and light scattering by particles or systems of particles has been the subject of intense research in various scientific and engineering fields, including astronomy, optics, meteorology, remote sensing, optical particle sizing and electromagnetics, which has led to the development of a large number of modelling methods based on the Generalized Multipole Technique for quantitative evaluation of electromagnetic scattering by particles of various shapes and compositions. The book describes these methods in detail.

This book explores emerging topics in atomic- and nano-scale electronics after the era of Moore's Law, covering both the physical principles behind, and technological implementations for many devices that are now expected to become key elements of the future of nanoelectronics beyond traditional complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOS). Moore's law is not a physical law itself, but rather a visionary prediction that has worked well for more than 50 years but is rapidly coming to its end as the gate length of CMOS transistors approaches the length-scale of only a few atoms. Thus, the key question here is: "What is the future for nanoelectronics beyond CMOS?" The possible answers are found in this book. Introducing novel quantum devices such as atomic-scale electronic devices, ballistic devices, memristors, superconducting devices, this book also presents the reader with the physical principles underlying new ways of computing, as well as their practical implementation. Topics such as quantum computing, neuromorphic computing are highlighted here as some of the most promising candidates for ushering in a new era of atomic-scale electronics beyond CMOS.

Time domain transient electrodynamics of dispersive and glossy media form the subject of this book. This topic is associated with the unusual interactions between ultra-short transient signals and these media. Techniques based on such interactions find use in materials analysis, fractal communication, and energy transfer through dispersive and absorbing media, Traditional analytical techniques (Fourier based) break down in the extreme conditions encountered in these situations; Shvartsburg gives here other successful techniques and methods to allow scientists to analyse and model this behaviour.

Two typical hybrid laser surface modification processes, i.e. electro/magnetic field aided laser process and supersonic laser deposition technology, are introduced in the book, to solve the common problems in quality control and low efficiency of the laser-only surface modification technology, high contamination and high consumption of the traditional surface modification technology. This book focuses on the principle, characteristics, special equipment, process and industrial applications of the hybrid laser surface modification processes based on the recent research results of the author's group, and provides theoretical guidance and engineering reference for the researchers and engineers engaging in the field of surface engineering and manufacturing.

This book explores a central question in the study of depth perception - 'does the visual system rely upon objective knowledge and subjective meaning to specify visual depth?' Linton advances an alternative interpretation to the generally accepted affirmative answer, according to which many of the apparent contributions of knowledge and meaning to depth perception are better understood as contributions to our post-perceptual cognition of depth. In order to defend this position a new account of visual cognition is required, as well as a better understanding of the optical and physiological cues to depth. This book will appeal to students and researchers in psychology, vision science, and philosophy, as well as technologists and content creators working in virtual and augmented reality.

This book is aimed at description of recent progress in radiative transfer, atmospheric remote sensing, snow optics, and light scattering. Light scattering/ radiative transfer and atmospheric optics research community will greatly benefit from the publication of this book.

This book presents a sequential representation of the electrodynamics of conducting media with dispersion. In addition to the general electrodynamic formalism, specific media such as classical nondegenerate plasma, degenerate metal plasma, magnetoactive anisotropic plasma, atomic hydrogen gas, semiconductors, and molecular crystals are considered. The book draws on such classics as Electrodynamics of plasma and plasma-like media (Silin and Rukhadze) and Principles of Plasma Electrodynamics (Alexandrov, Bogdankevich, and Rukhadze), yet its outlook is thoroughly modern-both in content and presentation, including both classical and quantum approaches. It explores such recent topics as surface waves on thin layers of plasma and non-dispersive media, the permittivity of a monatomic gas with spatial dispersion, and current-driven instabilities in plasma, among many others. Each chapter is equipped with a large number of problems with solutions that have academic and practical importance. This book will appeal to graduate students as well as researchers and other professionals due to its straight-forward yet thorough treatment of electrodynamics in conducting dispersive media.

This book covers a comprehensive range of topics on the physical mechanisms of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), scattering effects, challenges in fabrication and efficient enhancement techniques in organic and inorganic LEDs. It deals with various reliability issues in organic/inorganic LEDs like trapping and scattering effects, packaging failures, efficiency droops, irradiation effects, thermal degradation mechanisms etc. Features: Provides insights into the improvement of performance and reliability of LEDs Highlights the optical power improvement mechanisms in LEDs Covers the challenges in fabrication and packaging of LEDs Discusses pertinent failures and degradation mechanisms Includes droop minimization techniques This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students in LEDs, illumination engineering, optoelectronics, and polymer/organic materials.

This book offers a didactic introduction to light-matter interactions at both the classical and semi-classical levels. Pursuing an approach that describes the essential physics behind the functionality of any optical element, it acquaints students with the broad areas of optics and photonics. Its rigorous, bottom-up approach to the subject, using model systems ranging from individual atoms and simple molecules to crystalline and amorphous solids, gradually builds up the reader's familiarity and confidence with the subject matter. Throughout the book, the detailed mathematical treatment and examples of practical applications are accompanied by problems with worked-out solutions. In short, the book provides the most essential information for any graduate or advanced undergraduate student wishing to begin their course of study in the field of photonics, or to brush up on important concepts prior to an examination.

This edited volume reviews the current state of the art in the additive manufacturing of optical componentry, exploring key principles, materials, processes and applications. A short introduction lets readers familiarize themselves with the fundamental principles of the 3D printing method. This is followed by a chapter on commonly-used and emerging materials for printing of optical components, and subsequent chapters are dedicated to specific topics and case studies. The high potential of additive manufactured optical components is presented based on different manufacturing techniques and accompanied with extensive examples - from nanooptics to large scale optics - and taking research and industrial perspectives. Readers are provided with an extensive overview of the new possibilities brought about by this alternative method for optical components manufacture. Finally, the limitations of the method with respect to manufacturing techniques, materials and optical properties of the generated objects are discussed. With contributions from experts in academia and industry, this work will appeal to a wide readership, from undergraduate students through engineers to researchers interested in modern methods of manufacturing optical components.

This book advances understanding of light-induced phase transitions and nonequilibrium orders that occur in a broken-symmetry system. Upon excitation with an intense laser pulse, materials can undergo a nonthermal transition through pathways different from those in equilibrium. The mechanism underlying these photoinduced phase transitions has long been researched, but many details in this ultrafast, non-adiabatic regime still remain to be clarified. The work in this book reveals new insights into this phenomena via investigation of photoinduced melting and recovery of charge density waves (CDWs). Using several time-resolved diffraction and spectroscopic techniques, the author shows that the light-induced melting of a CDW is characterized by dynamical slowing-down, while the restoration of the symmetry-breaking order features two distinct timescales: A fast recovery of the CDW amplitude is followed by a slower re-establishment of phase coherence, the latter of which is dictated by the presence of topological defects in the CDW. Furthermore, after the suppression of the original CDW by photoexcitation, a different, competing CDW transiently emerges, illustrating how a hidden order in equilibrium can be unleashed by a laser pulse. These insights into CDW systems may be carried over to other broken-symmetry states, such as superconductivity and magnetic ordering, bringing us one step closer towards manipulating phases of matter using a laser pulse.

This thesis builds on recent innovations in multi-phase emulsion droplet design to demonstrate that emulsion morphologies enable a useful variety of dynamic optical phenomena. Despite the highly dynamic nature of fluid morphologies and their utility for stimuli-responsive, dynamic optical materials and devices, fluid matter is underrepresented in optical technology. Using bi-phase emulsion droplets as refractive micro-optical components, this thesis realizes micro-scale fluid compound lenses with optical properties that vary in response to changes in chemical concentrations, structured illumination, and thermal gradients. Theoretical considerations of emulsions as optical components are used to explain a previously unrecognized total internal reflection-enabled light interference phenomenon in emulsion droplets that results in rich structural coloration. While this work is focused on the fundamental optics of emulsion droplets, it also facilitates the use of light-emitting emulsion morphologies as chemo-optical transducers for early-stage food-borne pathogen detection. This thesis beautifully demonstrates the virtue of fundamental interdisciplinary exploration of unconventional material systems at the interface of optics, chemistry, and materials science, and the benefits arising from translation of the acquired knowledge into specific application scenarios.

Hardbound. Volume XXXV contains six review articles.The first article is a discussion on transverse light patterns in non-linear media, lasers and wide aperture interferometers. The next article deals with the detection and spectroscopic studies of single molecules in transparent solids at low temperature. The isolated spectral line of a single molecule makes it possible to perform basic quantum measurements, and allows probing in unprecedented detail of the surrounding solid matrix. The article also includes some suggestions for future research in this field.The next article reviews interferometric techniques for retrieving multispectral images with a large number of spectral channels. Special attention is paid to the theory of interferometric multispectral imaging which unifies the theories of coherence based image retrieval and spectrum recovery. Various techniques are compared, especially in terms of signal-to-noise-ratio.This chapter is foll

This book computes the first- and second-order derivative matrices of skew ray and optical path length, while also providing an important mathematical tool for automatic optical design. This book consists of three parts. Part One reviews the basic theories of skew-ray tracing, paraxial optics and primary aberrations - essential reading that lays the foundation for the modeling work presented in the rest of this book. Part Two derives the Jacobian matrices of a ray and its optical path length. Although this issue is also addressed in other publications, they generally fail to consider all of the variables of a non-axially symmetrical system. The modeling work thus provides a more robust framework for the analysis and design of non-axially symmetrical systems such as prisms and head-up displays. Lastly, Part Three proposes a computational scheme for deriving the Hessian matrices of a ray and its optical path length, offering an effective means of determining an appropriate search direction when tuning the system variables in the system design process.

Progress in Optics, Volume 64, the latest release in a series that presents an overview of the state-of-the-art in optics research. In this update, readers will find timely chapters on measuring polarization states, optics of random media, PT symmetries, radiation pressure, dressed photon science, topological plasmonics, and classical entanglement, amongst other topics.

This book addresses microwave chemistry at both the physical and molecular level. Its main goal is to elaborate the highly complex scientific issues involved in the fundamental theory of microwave chemistry, and in industrialized applications in the near future.The book provides detailed insights into the characterization and measurement of dielectric properties under complex conditions, such as chemical reactions, high-temperature environments, etc. Considerable attention is paid to the theory of dynamics in microwave chemistry, from the view of both physical level and molecular level. Microwave-Material Interactions simulation is used for physical dynamical analysis, while a Microwave-Molecules Interactions methodology is proposed for molecular dynamical analysis. In turn, calculational examples are introduced for better description and validation, respectively. Lastly, the book proposes design strategies and calculational examples for large-scale application. Richly illustrated and including a wealth of worked-out examples, this book is ideal for all researchers, students and engineers who are just getting started in the dynamics of microwave chemistry.

Optical Metrology for Fluids, Combustion and Solids is the first practical handbook that presents the assemblage of the techniques necessary to provide a basic understanding of optical measurement for fluids, combustion, and solids. The use of light as a measurement tool has grown over the past twenty years from a narrowly specialized activity to a mainstay of modern research today. Until recently, the knowledge that could be extracted from the light interaction of light with physical objects was limited to specialized activities. The invention of the laser, the computer and microelectronics has enabled a measurement revolution such that virtually every parameter of engineering interest can be measured using the minimally intrusive properties of light.
The authors of this book's chapters are leaders in this revolution. They work on the front lines of research in government, industry, and universities, inventing yet more ways to harness the power of light for the generation of knowledge.