This monograph provides an introductory discussion of evanescent waves and plasmons, describes their properties and uses, and shows how they are fundamental when operating with nanoscale optics. Far field optics is not suitable for the design, description, and operation of devices at this nanometre scale. Instead one must work with models based on near-field optics and surface evanescent waves. The new discipline of plasmonics has grown to encompass the generation and application of plasmons both as a travelling excitation in a nanostructure and as a stationary enhancement of the electrical field near metal nanosurfaces. The book begins with a brief review of the basic concepts of electromagnetism, then introduces evanescent waves through reflection and refraction, and shows how they appear in diffraction problems, before discussing the role that they play in optical waveguides and sensors. The application of evanescent waves in super-resolution devices is briefly presented, before plasmons are introduced. The surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are then treated, highlighting their potential applications also in ultra-compact circuitry. The book concludes with a discussion of the quantization of evanescent waves and quantum information processing. The book is intended for students and researchers who wish to enter the field or to have some insight into the matter. It is not a textbook but simply an introduction to more complete and in-depth discussions. The field of plasmonics has exploded in the last ten years, and most of the material treated in this book is scattered in original or review papers. A short comprehensive treatment is missing; this book is intended to provide just that.

The aim of the work is give an overview of the activity in the field of Photonic Crystal developed in the frame of COST P11 action . The main objective of the COST P11 action was to unify and coordinate national efforts aimed at studying linear and nonlinear optical interactions with Photonic Crystals (PCs), without neglecting an important aspect related to the material research as idea and methods of realizations of 3D PC, together with the development and implementation of measurement techniques for the experimental evaluation of their potential applications in different area, as for example telecommunication with novel optical fibers, lasers, nonlinear multi-functionality, display devices, opto-electronics, sensors.

The book contain contributions from authors who gave their lecture at the Cost P11 Training School.

Training School was held at the Warsaw University (2007) and National Institute of Telecommunications (May 23), Warsaw. It was attended by 23 students. The focus of the School was on the work of working groups WG1 and WG3 of the COST P11 Action, concerning the active and non-linear properties of photonic crystals and the fabrication and characterisation of photonic crystal structures. This was supported by two opening lectures providing a general introduction to the topics covered within the action and a summary of the challenges faced by and achievements of the modelling and simulation activities developed during the Action.