This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 8414, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, and the Conference Committee listing.

Planar devices that can be categorised as having a nanophotonic dimension constitute an increasingly important area of photonics research. Device structures that come under the headings of photonic crystals, photonic wires and metamaterials are all of interest - and devices based on combinations of these conceptual approaches may also play an important role. Planar micro-/nano-photonic devices seem likely to be exploited across a wide spectrum of applications in optoelectronics and photonics. This spectrum includes the domains of display devices, biomedical sensing and sensing more generally, advanced fibre-optical communications systems - and even communications down to the local area network (LAN) level. This article will review both device concepts and the applications possibilities of the various different devices.

The processes involved in nanoparticle and nanostructure formation by laser are analyzed. Relative contributions of several mechanisms involved are compared. First, we consider the formation of "primary" particles and discuss the difference between femtosecond and nanosecond regimes. Then, "secondary" particle/aggregate formation is discussed. In particular, attention is focused on (i) direct cluster ejection from a target under rapid laser interaction; (ii) condensation/evaporation; (iii) fragmentation/aggregation processes during cluster diffusion; (iv) diffusion, aggregation, and/or coalescence. In addition, routes of control over particle size distribution are proposed. Possibility of formation of colloidal nanoparticles with very narrow size distribution is proven numerically. The role of such parameters as ablation yield, laser wavelength and laser fluence, and surface tension are examined. Finally, controlled nanoparticle self-assembly is discussed as a potential technique for future development of nanomaterials.

Granular films of alkali and coinage metals are the most popular objects for exploring plasmonic effects. They are easy to obtain via physical vapor deposition and to study via optical means. In this contribution we show several ways not only to record but also to modify the granular metal films using thermal and nonthermal optical effects.

The formation of 2D and 3D photonic lattices by Bessel standing wave and combined interferometric-mask techniques is performed with the use of cw 532 nm laser beam in photorefractive lithium niobate crystal doped with Fe and Fe, Cu impurity ions. The non-uniform intensity distribution of the beams is imparted into the irradiating photorefractive medium via electro-optic effect thus creating micro- and nano-scale 2D and 3D refractive index gratings with new symmetries and properties. Non-diffracting Bessel standing wave technique provides the recording of high contrast 2D photonic lattices which is the combination of annular and planar gratings with the period of ~9 μm in radial direction and half-wavelength period of 266 nm in azimuthal direction. The created by combined interferometric-mask technique 3D photonic lattices can be represented as numerous mask-generated 2D quasi-periodic structures located in each antinode of the standing wave. The formed 3D gratings have ~ 30 μm period in radial and azimuthal directions and 266 nm in axial direction. The 2D and 3D gratings were interrogated by diffraction of low intensity Gaussian probe beams from the recorded structures, as well as by direct observation by phase microscope.

Among the potential photovoltaic devices based on semiconductor oxides as active layer is cuprous oxide (Cu2O). Although the theoretical limit of Cu2O solar cell efficiency is 20%, the best efficiency obtained up to now is only 2%. This is due to a very limited amount of work devoted to this semiconductor and only during last few years this material has been investigated for solar cells applications. In this work we report our results of optical, structural and surface morphology investigations of Cu2O films prepared by thermal oxidation of copper layer. The effects of oxidation temperature and oxygen partial pressure on surface morphology and crystalline structure of Cu2O films were studied. Scanning electron microscope results have shown that Cu2O films have microcrystalline structure with grain size of about 5-15 μm. Analysis of fine structure shows typical lattice spacing of cubic Cu2O structure. X-ray investigations have shown that the films consist of single Cu2O phase without any interstitial phase and have a nano-grain structure. The grains have an average dimensions about (33-41) nm. Optical investigations have shown that the absorption edge of prepared films is due to a direct allowed transition. The value of the optical band gap is 2.08 eV.

The current paper is devoted to the fabrication and optimisation of ZnO nanowire (ZnONW) arrays for electrochemical glucose biosensor fabrication. The ZnO nanowires were fabricated by a two-step combination method. This includes radio-frequency (RF) sputtering of the ZnO seeding layer and hydrothermal growth of the nanowires in a solution containing zinc nitrate hexahydrate. Glucose oxidase has been immobilised on the nanowires, for use as the biorecognition molecule. The sensing characteristics of the biosensors based on this fabrication methodology were investigated in phosphate buffer solution using electrochemical techniques.

A survey of polarization-dependent optical phenomena in semiconductor and metal nanowires and nanorods is presented. Due to a large dielectric constant mismatch between nanostructures and their environment, the amplitude of the optical electric field inside the former depends drastically on the angle between the direction of light polarization and the nanostructure axis. As a result, optical absorption, photoconductivity, and nonlinear photoresponse in semiconductor structures are strongly anisotropic, with the maximal value for the parallel light polarization. In metal structures, absorption anisotropy depends on the light frequency, and for that close to the transverse plasmon frequency is maximal for the perpendiculat light polarization. Luminescence emitted by semiconductor nanowires and nanorods is strongly polarized along their axis. Joint action of polarization effects in absorption and luminescence results in the polarization memory, when luminescence of a random ensemble of nanorods is polarized in the same direction as the exciting light.

The electronic states and coupling effect in the laterally stacked symmetric and asymmetric quantum-dot-molecules (QDMs) are studied. The formed potential of QDM is approximated with parabolic and modified Pöschel-Teller (MPT) potentials. It is shown that the coupling criterion of quantum dots (QDs) is the energy levels split due to the tunneling effect. In the case of the asymmetric QDM the electron relocalization step-like behavior is revealed, while in the symmetric case it is principally impossible. The obtained results for parabolic and modified Pöschel-Teller potential confinements are compared. The formation of energy levels split for a given range of values of energy (coupling criterion) as a consequence of the finiteness of the confinement potential is revealed for the case of modified Pöschel-Teller potential approximation.

We investigate production of three-photon states in cascaded parametric down-conversion (PDC). The analysis includes preparation of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger polarization-entangled states in cascaded type-II and type-I PDC in the framework of considering the dual-grid structure that involves two periodically poled crystals. Considering cascaded optical parametric oscillator (OPO) driven by a sequence of laser pulses with Gaussian time-dependent envelopes, we investigate quantum statistical properties of high intensity mode generated in intracavity three-photon splitting. Calculating the normalized third-order correlation function below-and at the generation threshold, we demonstrate that in the pulsed regime, depending on the duration of pulses and the time-interval separations between them, the degree of three-photon-number correlation essentially exceed the analogous one for the case of continuous pumping.

In the present work the interband optical absorption in the ensemble of spherical quantum layers with weak quantum interaction is investigated. The distribution of layers by their inner radii is taken into account. The effect of weak electric field on the energy levels coupling and absorption character is investigated as well. It is shown that the energy spectrum 1s1p1d2s1f2p... for spherical quantum dot turns to the spectrum 1s1p1d1f2s2p... for spherical quantum layer with enough large value of inner radius. It is also shown that in spherical quantum layer, where the coupling between neighboring states is not negligible, there is no square low dependence of Stark shift on electric field strength in contrast to the rotator model.

Using the effective mass approximation and the transfer matrix formalism, we have calculated the ground state energy of electron in 0.7 0.3 GaAs/Ga_0.7Al_0.3As concentric double quantum rings under the combined effects of electric field and hydrostatic pressure. The ground state energy dependences on the electric field, hydrostatic pressure and width of outer ring are reported for different values of the thickness of rings. We have found that for low pressure regime (less than P = 8.37 kbar ) the ground state energy decreases slower than for high pressure regime (higher then P = 8.37 kbar ). Additionally, we have found that the effect of hydrostatic pressure on ground state energy mainly depends on the electric field strength and the sizes of quantum ring.

We investigated the effect of different stacking order of the four graphene layer system on the induced band gap when positively charged top and negatively charged back gates are applied to the system. A tight-binding approach within a self-consistent Hartree approximation is used to calculate the induced charges on the different graphene layers. We show that the electric field does not open an energy gap if the multilayer graphene system contains a trilayer part with the ABA Bernal stacking.

The nonlinear theory of formation of entangled polaritons of probe field in the case of Raman interaction scheme in Y₂SiO₅ crystal doped by ⁵⁹Pr atoms is developed. The model of polariton waveguide with doped medium inside based on Fabry-Prot interferometer is suggested. The opportunity of dynamic amplification of entangled polaritons in such a system is shown.

The effect of interdiffusion on hydrogen-like donor impurity binding energy in a multiple quantum well structure composed of 9 wells and 8 barriers is investigated. The effect of external magnetic field along the growth direction is taken into account as well. The obtained results show that the simultaneous effect of interdiffusion and the external magnetic field give a great opportunity of purposeful manipulation of binding energy and the character of the diffusion effect on binding energy strongly depends on the position of impurity center.

We discuss formation of two-dimensional spatial structures of atoms due to atomic diffraction on two crossed standing electromagnetic fields. This analysis proposed for V-type atomic configuration under dispersive atom-field interactions in quantum regime. Localization of the position of atoms passing through standing light wave is initiated by making a quadrature phase measurement on the light fields. We develop the procedure for strong two-dimensional spatial localization of atomic beam within the optical wavelength. Considering atomic spatial localization in the presence of entanglement of two light beams various two-dimensional patterns for V-type atoms are reported.

Kapitza-Dirac scattering of a two-level atom is studied in Raman - Nath approximation without any restriction on the value of resonance detuning. The subject of interest, atom scattering amplitude, is obtained in form of a definite integral and is generalised in case of quantum superposition of initial momentums. It is shown that the discrete Gaussian form of the latter yields promising diffraction spectrum for the atom interferometry.

In the realistic EuS/PbS/EuS quantum well system with strong material parameter contrasts in heteroboundaries (MPCH) a collective plasmon-phonon excitation spectrum for a weakly polar quasi-two-dimensional electron gas interacting with the longitudinal optical phonons is investigated. The calculations are carried out within the framework of the random-phase approximation by use of exactly calculated dielectric function of an electron gas. The analytical and numerical deviations from the results when MPCH is absent are established. The mode coupling due to MPCH for typical moderate low in-plane densities ( 3.5.10¹¹ cm^-2 ) is presented. It is shown, that in this realistic structure a low plasmon-like coupled mode is deeply suppressed and high phonon-like mode weakly depends from the transverse optical frequency due to the lead salt material features.

The surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes formation in the structure consisting from metallic torus and a metallic flat surface separated by dielectric medium, as well as in ring type V-groove cavity are considered theoretically. The results obtained for these two structures are compared. The energy of the wave field is mainly concentrated in the dielectric medium at the vicinity of the minimum thickness of the gap between the metallic surfaces. The dependence of the resonant frequency on parameters of the structure was determined. The strongly localized SPP mode in the transverse direction contributes to the increase in the Purcell factor that is crucial for enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate.

The method of the misfit dislocation removal from working area of the devices on heterostructures is theoretically offered. The chainlet of the edge dislocation (one-dimensional soliton-soliton bound state) is formed in substrate and film border by special preliminary processing. The stress field of such chainlet pushes away a misfit dislocation incipient on the borders of the heterostructures. By numerical experiment it is shown that the stress field of a chainlet is compressed in a sliding direction and it increases in a perpendicular direction, when the velocity is increased. It is possible to influence locally on the given dislocation varying the parameters of the system.

We developed a variational approach to investigate the ground state energy and the extend of the wavefunction of a neutral donor located near a semiconductor surface in the presence of scanning tunneling microscope (STM) metallic tip. We apply the effective mass approximation and use a variational wavefunction that takes into account the influence of all image charges that arise due to the presence of a metallic tip. The behavior of the ground state energy when the tip approaches the semiconductor surface is investigated.

In the framework of adiabatic approximation the energy levels and direct interband absorption of light in the falciform lens shaped quantum dot are studied. Analytical expressions for energy spectrum and wave functions of the electron are obtained. It has been shown, that the particle energy spectrum is equidistant, and dependence of energy on geometrical parameters has root character. Dependences of absorption coefficient and edge frequencies on geometrical parameters of a quantum dot are obtained in the strong quantization regime. Corresponding selection rules for quantum transitions are revealed.

Within the framework of adiabatic approximation the energy levels and direct interband light absorption in strongly oblate semiellipsoidal quantum dot's ensemble are studied. Analytical expressions for the particle energy spectrum and absorption threshold frequency in the regime of strong size quantization are obtained. Selection rules for quantum transitions are revealed. To facilitate the comparison of obtained results with the probable experimental data, the small semiaxe size dispersion distribution of quantum dots growing by two experimentally realizing distribution functions have been taken into account. Distribution functions of Lifshits-Slezov and Gaussian have been considered.

In the framework of adiabatic approximation the energy levels and direct interband absorption of light in the ensemble of cylindrical quantum dots' having strongly oblate elliptical cross-section are studied. Analytical expressions for the energy spectrum and wave functions of the electron are obtained. For the "slow" subsystem effective potential approximation, parabolic and modified Pöschl-Teller potentials are used. Low-energy levels in the energy spectrum are shown to be equidistant in both cases. Modified Pöschl-Teller potential approximation allows taking into account violation of equidistance of energy levels for higher exited states. Absorption coefficient and edge frequencies are obtained in the strong size quantization regime. Corresponding selection rules for quantum transitions are found.

A high spatial resolution X-ray image detector is designed and costructed. The detector consists of a scintillator, light microscopy optics and charge-coupled device (CCD). The scintillator has a mosaic form with 4x5 mm² area and consists of 1x1x0.3 mm³ elements fabricated from Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce (YAG:Ce) and Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂:Ce (GGG:Ce) bulk crystals. Using "Zemax" program the mirror-lens microscopic optical system is calculated and constructed. The Philips FTF4052M CCD has 4008(H) x 5344(V) active pixels (pixel size 9um) with sensitive area 36.072 mm x 48.096 mm. The detector has been characterized using visible-light images. X-ray images from a mosaic of scintillation crystals were also obtained. The estimated spatial resolution of the detector is 1 μm.

Possibilities of the use the Yb³⁺ doped crystals (Y₃Al₅O₁₂, NaBi(WO₄)₂,LiNbO₃) as materials for optical temperature sensor based on temperature dependences of zero-phonon spectral lines are discussed. Temperature dependences of intensities of zero-phonon transitions between individual Stark states of Yb³⁺ ion due to Debye - Waller factors, homogeneous widths and shifts of the spectral lines in a range from 960 to 1060 nm are investigated. The operation temperature regions and average sensitivities for optical temperature sensors under consideration are determined.

In the article it is considered generation of the down-conversion process, which crucially depends on the phase-matching relations between the interacting waves, in geometry of the transverse excitation of an annular periodically poled nonlinear photonic structure by a fundamental Gaussian beam. It has been investigated the probability and conditions for quasi-phase-matching (QPM) of down-conversion process in annular periodically poled media. Here it is presented in transverse geometry of light propagation, when the fundamental light beam propagates along the axis of the structure; consequently conical beams are formed as a result of the higher-order nonlinear Bragg diffraction. It has been shown strong correlation between the interacting beams polarizations and the type of the nonlinear media for realization of perfect QPM for the process. Besides, it has been calculated the two-photon amplitude of the down-conversion process in the annular nonlinear structure.

Phenomenological theory for non-equilibrium steady states of holographic gratings under stable irradiation is presented. These states can be described in a much simpler manner than the full microscopic picture of the grating formation process: namely, they can be characterized with a single mode of the electromagnetic field (the writing mode), and the respective modulation of the electric permittivity (the photorefractive response). The two latter quantities are interdependent, and should be obtained in a self-consistent manner in the theory. The photonic bandgap that results from the periodic grating, manifests itself as an effect of phase-sensitive birefringence.

We investigate quasi-phase-matching (QPM) and spontaneous parametric down-conversion in randomly poled structures. The novelty is that we consider the disordered structure which involves nonlinear segments separated by domains with linear optical spacers of random lengths. Considering down-conversion, we calculate the probability of production of pair photons by using the procedure of averaging over random positions of domains boundaries. We demonstrate the method of compensation of the dispersive effects in nonlinear segments by appropriately chosen linear dispersive segments of superlattice for realizing effective QPM and preparation of joint states of two photons.

The study of the contributions of photovoltaic and diffusion effects in the formation of 1D and 2D holographic gratings by Bessel beam technique in photorefractive Fe doped lithium niobate crystals are performed. For this purpose 1D and 2D gratings were recorded by travelling Bessel beam and counter-propagating Bessel beam (CPBB) techniques using laser radiation at 532nm wavelength and 17 mW power. Created 1D grating in the form of concentric rings had 9.0μm period in radial direction. 2D grating which is a combination of annular and planar gratings had a period of 9.0μm in radial and 266 nm in axial directions. The testing of the profile of the recorded gratings by phase microscope was performed. The investigations show that the refractive index depth of modulation for 1D annular grating has pronounced azimuthal dependence as a result of formation of gratings predominantly by the photovoltaic effect taking place along the C-axis of the crystal. For 2D grating formed by CPBB technique the azimuthal dependence of grating modulation depth is less pronounced. The 266 nm period in axial direction provides, except for the photovoltaic effect, also the contribution of the diffusion of charge carriers to the grating formation. Diffusion effect takes place in all directions and provides the isotropic contribution to the grating formation, but with less efficiency than the photovoltaic effect.

Presently, among the most demanding applications for highly sensitive magnetometers are Magnetocardiography (MCG) and Magnetoencephalography (MEG), where sensitivities of around 1pT.Hz^-1/2 and 1fT.Hz^-1/2 are required. Cryogenic Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) are currently used as the magnetometers. However, there has been some recent work on replacing these devices with magnetometers based on atomic spectroscopy and operating at room temperature. There are demonstrations of MCG and MEG signals measured using atomic spectroscopy These atomic magnetometers are based on chip-scale microfabricated components. In this paper we discuss the prospects of using photonic crystal optical fibres or hollow core fibres (HCFs) loaded with Rb vapour in atomic magnetometer systems. We also consider new components for magnetometers based on mode-locked semiconductor lasers for measuring magnetic field via coherent population trapping (CPT) in Rb loaded HCFs.

We demonstrate controllable and efficient storage of a single-photon in an atomic ensemble confined within hollow-core fiber using the robust far off-resonant Raman scattering. As a result, a deterministic generation of Stokes photon is predicted that can be used for implementation of quantum repeaters.

The schemes of storing of images in quantum states of atoms being used nowadays are based on electromagnetically induced transparency. The images are stored in the collective atomic coherence with the storage time limited by different relaxation processes in the system with the transverse relaxation being the most detrimental among them. In this communication, we present a method of coherent writing of optical information (a transverse image) into the populations instead of the coherences of the metastable atomic states. The method is based on an action of a sequence of frequency chirped laser pulses on an atom with lambda-structure of working levels. Such storage results in drastic increase of the storage time. The reading out of the stored information is performed by measuring the population of one of the metastable atomic states.

The interaction of a two-level atomic ensemble with a quantized single mode electromagnetic field in the presence of optical collisions is theoretically investigated. The main accent is made on achieving thermal equilibrium for coupled atom-light states (in particular dressed states). We propose a model of atomic dressed state thermalization that accounts for the evolution of the pseudo-spin Bloch vector components and characterize the essential role of the spontaneous emission rate in the thermalization process. Our model shows that the time of thermalization of the coupled atom-light states strictly depends on the ratio of the detuning and the resonant Rabi frequency. The predicted time of thermalization is in the nanosecond domain and about ten times shorter than the natural lifetime of rubidium D-lines.

Propagation of two optical pulses in a non-linear Λ-type atomic medium is considered. The analytical solution to the self-consistent Maxwell-Schrodinger equations in the adiabatic following condition is obtained. Superluminal effects during propagation of pulses in the medium are studied.

The coherent response accumulation method is used to assess the ability to amplify the polarization rotated component of a probe beam about two-photon resonance conditions. Atomic gas of alkaline metal atoms is chosen as a medium of interest. Probe wave connects the atomic ground state nS_1/2 with the excited doublet nP_1/2,3/2, which in its turn is coupled to the higher excited level n'S_1/2 by an intense pump field. The relaxation processes and the Doppler effect are also included into the theory. It is shown that sequentially changing the input probe field's phase from 0 till and vice-versa, one can get about 2 times narrowing and more than 14 times amplification of intensity for the final part of rotated component of the probe wave.

The problem of polarized light propagation in the me¬dia with weak inho-mogeneous anisotropy and gyrotropy (natural and induced is considered. It is shown that the polarization state in such media undergoes spatial oscillations, which amplitude is maximum when changes of dielectric per-meability and gyrotropy are same.

The possibility of defects induction controlled by external electric field was experimentally demonstrated in the cholesteric liquid-crystalline films with selective reflection in visible range of light. It was verified that due to the induced defect it is possible to control the rotation of polarization plane of light propagating through liquid-crystalline structure. The investigation of three types of defects induced near the input substrate, in the centre and near the exit substrate of the film was done. The basic result of the experiment is that the maximum value of the polarization plane rotation was observed when light after propagating through chiral liquid-crystalline photonic structure passes through the anisotropic defect layer.