Glass Micro- and Nanospheres-Physics and Applications

Glass Microspheres as Optical Resonators 
Simone Berneschi, Francesco Chiavaioli, Andrea Barucci, Daniele Farnesi, Giancarlo C. Righini, Stefano Pelli, Silvia Soria, and Gualtiero Nunzi Conti
Introduction 
Theory of WGMs in Glass Microspheres 
Conclusion 
Glass Nanospheres and Photonic Crystals 
Alexander Quandt, Maurizio Ferrari, and Andrea Chiappini
Introduction and Survey 
Scattering of Light by Spherical Objects 
Interference and Bragg Diffraction 
Photonic Crystals 
Summary and Outlook 
Glass Nanospheres and Artificial Opals 
A. Chiappini, C. Armellini, A. Carpentiero, L. Pasquardini, A. Vaccari, S. Pelli, V. Piccolo, A. Lukowiak, G. C. Righini, R. Ramponi, D. Zonta, and M. Ferrari
Introduction 
Synthesis of Dielectric Nanospheres 
Artificial Opals by Self-Assembly Approach 
Properties of Opals 
Heterostructures 
Infiltrated Opals 
Inverse Opals 
Conclusions 
Coating of Glass Microspheres 
Davor Ristić, Mile Ivanda, Maurizio Ferrari, Andrea Chiappini, and Giancarlo C. Righini
Introduction 
Coating Methods 
Low-Refractive-Index Coatings 
High-Refractive-Index Coating: General Consideration 
Modal Dispersion Tailoring 
Coating for Sensing Applications 
Fluorescent Layers for Lasing Application 
Optically Passive Layers for Thermal Effects 
Conclusion 
Biomedical Sensing Applications of Microspherical Resonators 
Silvia Soria, Simone Berneschi, Andrea Barucci, Alessandro Cosci, Daniele Farnesi, Gualtiero Nunzi Conti, Stefano Pelli, and Giancarlo C. Righini
Introduction 
Optical Label-Free Biomedical Sensors 
Surface Functionalization 
Biochemical Sensing with Passive Microspheres 
Biochemical Sensing with Active Microspheres 
Labeled versus Label-Free WGM Resonators 
Conclusions and Outlook 
Optical Frequency Conversion in Microspheres 
Daniele Farnesi, Giancarlo C. Righini, Gualtiero Nunzi Conti, and Silvia Soria
Introduction 
Third-Harmonic and Third-Order Sum-Frequency Generation in WGMRs 
Four-Wave Mixing 
Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) 
Conclusions 
Applications of Optical WGM Microresonators to Microwaves and Millimeter Waves 
Pierre-Henri Merrer and Olivier Llopis
Introduction: The Use of Optical Resonances in the Microwave Range 
Laser Stabilization on a Sphere Resonance 
Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Generation Using Optical Spheres 
Conclusions 
Applications of Glass Micro- and Nanospheres 
Giancarlo C. Righini and Francesco Prudenzano
Introduction 
Microsphere Lasers 
Glass Microspheres, Glass Beads, and Ball Lenses 
Fillers for Composite Materials 
Personal Care and Biomedical Applications 
Energy Applications 
Conclusion