Symposium H Three Dimensional Nanoengineered Assemblies

The 3D Nanoengineered Assemblies symposium brought together researchers from a wide range of fields. The conference topic is not focused on a particular area of research, but on a goal that is being pursued by many groups approaching from diverse directions. 3D Nanoengineered Assemblies included much work that was "not quite truly 3D" and "not quite on the nanoscale." The result was a meeting in which common overarching themes emerged from presentations in widely separated research areas. More than 100 abstracts were submitted, and there were 29 invited talks covering work that spanned a remarkable number of topics. The symposium was generally well attended, and there was good feedback about the overall quality of the presentations. One of the most interesting aspects of nanotechnology is the ability to access physical phenomena that occur on the nanoscale. A compelling example of this sort of nanoscale phenomena exploits the collective electronic excitations (plasma oscillations or plasmons) in metal nanoparticles to manipulate energy and matter. This work was well represented by talks from Harry Atwater (CalTech), Frank Traeger (Kassel), Mostafa El-Sayed (Georgia Tech), Richard Blaike (Canterbury) and Meg Abraham (Aerospace Corp.). In particular, Harry Atwater's talk showed how plasmons in metal particles on a surface could be used to direct the flow of energy in a material analogous to more conventional electronic devices. Other talks demonstrated the use of plasmons to control the size and shape of the metal nanoparticles both on a surface and in the bulk. This is a compelling set of applications for nanotechnology in general and 3D nanoengineered assemblies in particular.