Stimulated by the pioneering work of Sajeev John and Eli Yablonovitsch, German research groups started with theoretical and experimental work on 2D and 3D photonics crystals in the early 1990s. This initial work was the basis for a research project focussing on photonic crystals and funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG) in 1999. 'Nanophotonic Materials - Photonic Crystals, Plasmonics, and Metameterials' summarizes the work and research results of these groups.

Research started with linear, non-dispersive properties of purely dielectric 2D and 3D photonic crystals and progressed to non-linear and dispersive properties of dielectric photonic crystals including gain and/or losses. These properties where studied on different materials systems such as silicon, III-V-compound semiconductors, oxides and polymers, as well as hybrid systems consisting of dielectric photonic crystals and liquid crystals. Applications of these systems were developed in the area of active photonic crystal fibres, functional optical components, and sensors. Some of these have by now even entered into industrial applications.

Reviews the most interesting materials on the market concerning self-ordering, including macroporous silicon, porous alumina, MCM41 and photonic bandgap.

Written by renowned experts in the field of photon management in solar cells, this one-stop reference gives an introduction to the physics of light management in solar cells, and discusses the different concepts and methods of applying photon management. The authors cover the physics, principles, concepts, technologies, and methods used, explaining how to increase the efficiency of solar cells by splitting or modifying the solar spectrum before they absorb the sunlight. In so doing, they present novel concepts and materials allowing for the cheaper, more flexible manufacture of solar cells and systems. For educational purposes, the authors have split the reasons for photon management into spatial and spectral light management. Bridging the gap between the photonics and the photovoltaics communities, this is an invaluable reference for materials scientists, physicists in industry, experimental physicists, lecturers in physics, Ph.D. students in physics and material sciences, engineers in power technology, applied and surface physicists.