Guest Editorial Introduction to JSTQE Special Issue on Photonic Antennas

The articles in this special section focus on photonic antennas. Early attempts in developing Photonic Antennas can be traced back to the 1990’s with the design and fabrication of micrometer-scale infrared and visible light antennas. From that time on, interest in this emerging research field has expanded rapidly, with growing sophistication of designs enabled by advancements in the micro and nanofabrication technology. In the last ten years or so, Photonic Antennas have become a very dynamic field of research in the broad area of photonics, both theoretically and experimentally. This has led to remarkable progress in the understanding of resonant optical micro and nanostructures with potential for formidable impact on a wide range of applications, from high-rate wireless communications and optical signal processing to molecular sensing and nonlinear effects enhancement.