Intelligent nanophotonic architectures: Intelligent functional structures that use light and material in a local environment

Abstract

There is a great demand for novel intelligent systems and architectures that can overcome the limitations of conventional technologies based solely on an electron transfer or light propagation. A promising solution is nanophotonics, which utilizes light–matter interactions occurring at a scale below the wavelength of light. We believe that the unique attributes of nanophotonics can be utilized in achieving novel intelligent capabilities. We present three representative physical attributes in near-field optical processes, which are, energy transfer, hierarchical properties, and large momentum as well as their applications to decision making, nano artifact-metrics, volumetric displays, and unidirectional light propagation.