Nanometer scale physics is progressing rapidly: the top-down approach of semiconductor technology will soon encounter the scale of the bottom-up approaches of supramolecular chemistry and spatially localized excitations in ionic crystals. Advances in this area have already led to applications in optoelectronics. More may be expected.

This book deals with the role of structure confinement in the spectroscopic characteristics of physical systems. It examines the fabrication, measurement and understanding of the relevant structures. It reports progress in the theory and in experimental techniques, starting with the consideration of fundamental principles and leading to the frontiers of research. The subjects dealt with include such spatially resolved structures as quantum wells, quantum wires, quantum dots, and luminescence, in both theoretical and practical terms.

Inhalt
Lectures.- The role of structure confinement in the energy level schemes of physical systems.- Photonic Structures: Atoms, Molecules, Wires and Crystals.- Optical Near-Field Spectroscopy.- Future of Laser Technology For Spectroscopy.- Propagation and Characterization of Ultrashort Laser Pulses.- Self-Ordered Growth and Spectroscopy of Nonplanar Quantum Wires and Quantum Dots.- Theory of Optical Properties of Quantum Wells, Wires and Dots.- Spatio-Temporal Bloch Oscillations in GaAs/AlGaAs Superlattices.- Optical Anisotropy in Low-Dimensional Semiconductor Structures.- Luminescence Properties of Very Small Semi-Conductor Particles.- Percolation and Localization in Disordered Solid Solutions.- Spontaneous Emission Within A Photonic Atom: Radiative Decay Rates and Spectroscopy of Levitated Microspheres.- Quantum Thermodynamics of A Single-Mode Field And of the Quantum Afterburner.- Appendix-Quantum Afterburner: Improving the Efficiency of an Ideal Heat Engine.- Fiber Lasers.- Structures and Models of Glasses. Recent Developments in Optical Glasses.- Free Electron Laser: Operating Principles.- Interdisciplinary Lectures.- Entanglement and Non-Separability in Quantum Mechanics.- Digging For The Skull of the Cyclops.- Long Seminars.- Confined Structures Based On Point Defects in Lithium Fluoride Films: Optical Properties and Applications.- Self-Organized Semiconductor Quantum Islands in A Semiconductor Matrix.- NASA Dial/Lidar Laser Technology Development Program.- Synthesis, Simulation&Spectroscopy: Physical Chemistry of Nanocrystals.- Optical Microcavities Based On Color Centers in Lif Films: New Solid State Miniaturized Light Sources.- Short Seminars.- Optical Properties of II-VI Semiconductor Nanocrystals.- Excitonic Transitions in Cuprous Oxide.- Time Resolved Near FieldSpectroscopy on CdSe/ZnSe Quantum Island.- Growth and Electrical Characterisation of CdS/ZnSe Heterostructures.- Science for the Masses?.- Growth and Use of Concentration Gradient Samples for the Study of Dynamical Processes of Laser ResonantTransitions in RE Doped Y2O3 (RE = Yb 3+, Er3+, Ho3+.- Simplified Optical Assembly for Single-Molecule Spectroscopy.- Quantum Cutting Phosphors.- Splitting of X-Ray Diffraction and Photoluminescence Peaks in InGAN/GaN Layers.- Optical Properties of InGaN Alloys : An Unsolved Mystery.- Study of Irradiation Defects in Quantum Structures of Semiconductors A3B5.- Numerical Studies of Semiconductor Quantum Structures.- Visible Luminescence of Silicon Microstructures Fabricated with Femtosecond-Laser Irradiation.- Photodisruption in Single Cells Using Femtosecond Laser Pulses.- Strain and Indium Compositions Fluctuations in InGaN/GaN Wurzite Epitaxial Films Studied by Raman Spectroscopy.- Posters.- Dipole-Dipole Interaction Effect on the Optical Response of Quantum Dot Ensembles.- Effect of the Matrix on the Radiative Lifetimes of Rare Earth Doped Nanoparticles Embedded in Matrices.- Evidence for Long-Range Interactions of Rare Earth Ions Doped in Nanocrystals Embedded in Amorphous Matrices with two-level systems of the matrix.- Sol-Gel Processed Eu2+ Doped Alkaline Earth Aluminates, MAl2O4:Eu2+ (M = Ca, Sr).- Nonlinear Optical Properties of Metal Nanoparticles: Hyper-Rayleigh Scattering Studies.- Luminescence Center Excited State Absorption in Calcium and Zinc Tungsates.- Multi-Phonon Optical Transitions in Quantum Nanostructures Based on Ionic Crystals.- Strain and Composition in InGaN/GaN Layers.- Raman Spectroscopy Studies in InGaN/GaN Epitaxial Layers.- Thermal Effects of Nd PL Spectra in Garnet Hosts.- First Roundtable Discussion.-Second Roundtable Discussion.- Summary of the Course.