Novel Light-matter Interactions in Micro/Submicro Systems

Recent advancement of micro/nano-fabrication technologies has realized various kinds of highly-quality micro/submicro-scaled optical systems. This opens up many exciting opportunities of experimental study on novel light-matter interactions in the tiny space. First, compared to the case of ordinary bulk media, the efficiency of light-matter interactions can be dramatically enhanced. Furthermore, the properties of both light and matter can be radically altered due to the boundary effect, and they can be even tailored over a broad range by engineering the structure of optical system. In this context, I will introduce in this talk a few examples of recent research activity based on the platform of micro/submicro optical waveguides, pursuing realization of new types of light sources and optical devices.