Optical Effects Associated With Small Particles

Book excerpt: This volume is a collection of review articles by scientists who have pioneered many of the recent advances in studies of the optical effects of small particles. The book begins with a review of the multitude of sharp dielectric resonances which exist in all optical spectra as a result of particle size and shape. Latest advances in absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy of a single particle and/or an ensemble of particles are also discussed, as well as advances in the energy transfer mechanisms for molecules embedded in the particle. The effects of laser-induced heating on a single particle are reviewed in terms of the hydrodynamics and thermodynamics of the liquid droplet and its ambient gas surrounding. The limits of applying bulk optical constants to small particles which lie between the bulk substance and the quantum-sized substance are also presented.