NANOTECHNOLOGY AND QUASICRYSTALS: FROM SELF-ASSEMBLY TO PHOTONIC APPLICATIONS

After providing a concise overview on quasicrystals and their discovery more than a quarter of a century ago, I consider the unexpected interplay between nanotechnology and quasiperiodic crystals. Of particular relevance are efforts to fabricate artificial functional micro- or nanostructures, as well as efforts to control the self-assembly of nanostructures, where current knowledge about the possibility of having long-range order without periodicity can provide significant advantages. I discuss examples of systems ranging from artificial metamaterials for photonic applications, through self-assembled soft matter, to surface waves and optically-induced nonlinear photonic quasicrystals.