The stated aim of this book is to provide the reader with a good theoretical basis of micro- and nano-optical structures. The first half of the volume covers the wave equation and propagation, refractive and reflective micro-optics, diffractive and tunable micro-optics and integrated free space optics. The second part of the book is devoted to integrated optical waveguide structures, an introduction to plasmonics, and structures. The concluding chapter deals with chiral materials. The treatment is strictly classical. Overall, there is a nice selection of topics for a one-semester course for advanced undergraduate or first-year graduate students in physics and electrical engineering. The mathematical pre-requisites are rather minimal: some basic knowledge of electromagnetism, vector analysis, linear differential equations and Fourier transforms. Many of these mathematical ideas are reviewed in the first chapter. The book has plenty of examples of the presented theory. There is also a set of questions to test comprehension of the material, and a few problems and references for further study are found at the end of each chapter. It would have been helpful if the authors had included solutions to the problems in an appendix, since it would aid self-study.
Review by Vasudevan Lakshminarayanan, professor of physics and electrical and computer engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada.
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or OSA.