Keynote Presentation Sub-Wavelength Photonics: From Light Manipulation to Quantum Levitation at the Nanoscale Federico CAPASSO School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Harvard University December 8, Tuesday Ballroom 2, From 10:50 ABSTRACT Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SSPs) allow one to achieve concentration of light into sub-wavelength regions thus opening up rich new directions in physical optics and photonics. A wide range of phenomena and applications across a spectral range from the visible to the mid-infrared, made possible by SPPs and by advanced fabrication techniques (from Focused ion Beam to new soft lithography techniques that enable patterning of large area substrates of nearly arbitrary shape and composition) will be presented in this talk. They include: (a) plasmonic collimators that have allowed to dramatically reduce the divergence of semiconductor lasers, creating  exciting opportunities in beam  engineering; (b) plasmonic polarizers for arbitrary control of laser polarization;  (c) new light sources such as plasmonic laser antennas, capable of creating intense nanospots for spatially resolved chemical imaging and ultra high density optical storage (d)  antenna arrays for surface enhanced Raman scattering; (e) frequency selective surfaces enabled by a new soft lithography technique; (f) attractive and repulsive optomechanical forces between dielectric and plasmonic waveguides at sub-wavelength distances. Finally at nanoscale distances forces arising from quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field cannot be neglected give rising to both attractive and repulsive Casimir forces. The latter, recently measured by us for the first time, could lead to ultralow friction mechanical devices based on quantum electrodynamical levitation. BIOGRAPHY Dr. Capasso launched his 26-year career at Bell Labs in 1977 as a member of the technical staff. He was vice president of physical research from 2000 to 2003, when he left to become the Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A Fellow of the IEEE, the American Physical Society, the Institute of Physics, American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Optical Society of America (OSA), Dr. Capasso is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. His honors include the IEEE David Sarnoff Award and OSA's R. Wood Prize. He has published more than 300 papers and holds over 40 U.S. patents. Dr. Capasso won the 2004 IEEE Edison Medal "For a career of highly creative and influential contributions to heterostructure devices and materials."