Nanosized sensors enable the study of chemical and biochemical processes at a level and in dimensions that may not have been envisioned some 20 years ago. Fueled by their inherent small size and the unusual optical, magnetic, catalytic, and mechanical properties of nanoparticles, remarkable progress has been made in recent years in the development and utilization of nanosensors and optical nanotechnology will further widen the field. However, the design of new sensors requires new materials, new methods for their characterization, new optical sensing schemes, new approaches for creating nanosized structures, and new techniques for their interrogation in complex environments such as small living cells for studying biological signals or big public spaces for environmental monitoring . Optochemical Nanosensors covers the rapidly growing field of optical chemical nanosensing, a new and exciting area of research and development within the large field of optical chemical sensing and biosensing. Its many applications, including the detection of bioterrorist threats, food security, virology, explosive detection and more, are covered in these self-contained yet interrelated chapters. The book reviews optochemical sensors, starting from the basics in optoelectronicsand concluding with the presentation of diverse nanosensors. The authors offer insight into future trends in this growing field and present applications in the fields of medicine, security, and bioterrorism.

This volume aims is to illustrate the state-of-the-art as well as the newest and latest applications of photonics in safety and security. The contributions from renowned and experienced Italian and international scientists, both from the academic and industrial community, present a multidisciplinary and comprehensive overview of this popular topic. The volume is self-contained and offers a broad survey of the various emerging technologies, as well as their applications in the real world. It spans from applications in cultural heritage, to environment, space, monitoring of coasts, quantum cryptography, food industry, medicine and forensic investigations. Photonics for Safety and Security provides an essential source of reference for a very wide readership, including physicists, chemists, engineers, academics and students who wish to have a complete review of the subject. The topics are carefully defined and widely illustrated so as to capture the attention of neophytes who need to go further into the topic and explore the research literature.

This volume focuses on a research field that has emerged in the last decade as one of the most promising and rapidly advancing. The interest towards photonic crystals and metamaterials and their strategic importance are evident in the steadily growing rate of topical publications, the recent creation of topical journals, conferences and workshops promoted by several scientific societies, the research efforts at international level, and the number of proposed novel applications based on them.

The various contributions, by renowned scientists from academia and industry, address wide-ranging topics, including aspects pertaining to modeling, phenomenologies, experiments, technologies and applications.

This invaluable book offers a comprehensive overview of the technologies and applications of optoelectronic sensors. Based on the R&D experience of more than 70 engineers and scientists, highly representative of the Italian academic and industrial community in this area, this book provides a broad and accurate description of the state-of-the-art optoelectronic technologies for sensing. The most innovative approaches, such as the use of photonic crystals, squeezed states of light and microresonators for sensing, are considered. Application areas range from environment to medicine and healthcare, from aeronautics, space, and defence to food and agriculture. Written in a self-contained manner, this volume presents both the sensing methodologies and the fundamental of the various technologies, as well as their applications in the real world.

Nanosized sensors enable the study of chemical and biochemical processes at a level and in dimensions that may not have been envisioned some 20 years ago. Fueled by their inherent small size and the unusual optical, magnetic, catalytic, and mechanical properties of nanoparticles, remarkable progress has been made in recent years in the development and utilization of nanosensors and optical nanotechnology will further widen the field. However, the design of new sensors requires new materials, new methods for their characterization, new optical sensing schemes, new approaches for creating nanosized structures, and new techniques for their interrogation in complex environments such as small living cells for studying biological signals or big public spaces for environmental monitoring .

Optochemical Nanosensors covers the rapidly growing field of optical chemical nanosensing, a new and exciting area of research and development within the large field of optical chemical sensing and biosensing. Its many applications, including the detection of bioterrorist threats, food security, virology, explosive detection and more, are covered in these self-contained yet interrelated chapters. The book reviews optochemical sensors, starting from the basics in optoelectronicsand concluding with the presentation of diverse nanosensors. The authors offer insight into future trends in this growing field and present applications in the fields of medicine, security, and bioterrorism.