It is an extraordinary paradox of Nature that, being seemingly the only creatures capable of understanding its harmony, we naively attempt to chase its very essence through our daily experience based on mass-point mechanics and ray optics, while its elusive structure is mainly contained in wave phenomena. It may be nanophotonics where many pathways happily merge that promises not only mental satisfaction in our scientific quest but also an extra bonus in the form of new technologies and devices.

In this book I have tried to give a consistent description of the basic physical phenomena, principles, experimental advances and potential impact of light propagation, emission, absorption, and scattering in complex nanostructures. Introductory quantum theory of solids and quantum confinement effects are considered to give a parallel discussion of wave optics and wave mechanics of complex structures as well as to outline the beneficial result of combined electron wave and light wave confinements in a single device. Properties of metal nanostructures with unprecedented capability to concentrate light and enhance its emission and scattering are discussed in detail.

Keeping mathematics to a reasonable minimum and reducing theoretical issues to a conceptual level, the book is aimed at assisting diploma and senior students in physics, optical and electronic engineering and material science. The contents include a vast diversity of phenomena from guiding and localization of light in complex dielectrics to single molecule detection by surface enhanced spectroscopy.