Nanoplasmonics: Concluding remarks

Abstract

Faraday Discussions have a splendid reputation in stimulating scientic debates along the traditions set by Michael Faraday himself. The Faraday Discussion 178 on nanoplasmonics has been particularly appropriate. Nanoplasmonics is the science of harnessing the interaction of light and matter on the nanometer scale. Plasmonics is a highly interdisciplinary eld bridging between physics, chemistry, modern nanotechnology and nanophotonics. Michael Faraday, rstly a chemist with original contributions in electrochemistry, paved fundamental roads in physics, establishing the basic concepts of the electromagnetic eld in physics and the effect of magnetism on rays of light. He pointed out the peculiar effect metal particles have on light and the importance of the particle size. He mentioned gold as especially tted for experiments, a tradition carried on until today.1 As such, the spirit and scientic foundations of Michael Faraday have been ever-present at the Burlington house gathering in February 2015 (Fig. 1). Here, highlights of the presented papers and discussions are summarized with an eye on future perspectives.