Light-Matter Interaction at the Nanoscale

The field of plasmonics encompasses the science and engineering of optical interaction with nanostructures. Prospects of subwavelength confinement and enhancement of optical fields near properly designed nanoscale objects has been a motivation to extensively investigate a variety of plasmonic optical phenomena in recent years. As a result of these investigations, the dynamic and vibrant field of plasmonics has reached across various disciplines, suggesting exciting applications in chemistry, material science, biology, medicine, and engineering. Moreover, plasmonic optics has enriched and enhanced the field of metamaterials, in which based on the collective electromagnetic behavior of many subwavelength inclusions and building elements as “meta-atoms”, novel engineered composite materials with unconventional bulk properties—such as negative refraction, near-zero material parameters, and extreme-value material parameters—have been suggested and implemented. Plasmonic optics and metamaterials are suitable paradigms for development of the field of transformation optics which allows for manipulation of light by controlling material parameters in space and time domains.

Inspired by the huge success of the previous three Gordon Research Conferences on Plasmonics in 2006, 2008, and 2010, the 2012 GRC on Plasmonics will bring some of the most active world renowned senior and junior scientists in the field to deliver exciting, cutting-edge, and thought-provoking invited lectures and to actively engage in extensive scientific discussions and interaction with researchers, students, and postdoctoral fellow participants. After each lecture, there will be ample time for lively discussion and question-and-answer sessions among invited speakers, discussion leaders, and all participants. There will be unstructured time in the afternoons where the free flow of ideas and discussion among all participants are highly encouraged, and there will also be stimulating poster sessions by participants, which is one of the highlights of Gordon Research Conferences. In addition to participating in the GRC week, students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior scientists are also encouraged to attend the associated Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on the Saturday (June 9) and Sunday (June 10) prior to the start of the GRC. (Please note that a separate application is needed for the associated GRS).