Review Article

Abstract

In the quantum physics of near-field optics and optical tunneling light–matter interactions are studied on a length scale (much) smaller than the wavelength of light, and questions regarding the possibilities for strong spatial localization of electromagnetic fields are here in focus. Some of these questions relate to the spatial resolution problem in optics, a problem which has gained considerable attention in connection to optical investigations of mesoscopic systems. Optics beyond the classical diffraction limit has renewed our interest in the various theories for spatial localization of single photons. In the present work aspects of these theories of particular importance for light–matter interaction on the microscopic and mesoscopic length scales are reviewed. Photon wave mechanics, i.e. the (rather unknown) first quantized theory of the photon, allows us to address the spatial field localization problem in a flexible manner which links smoothly to classical electromagnetics. The wave mechanics of free photons is discussed both in the momentum–time domain (Part A) and in the space–time domain (Part B). The first-quantized theory of spatial localization of photons subjected to field–matter interaction is described in Part C, paying particular attendance to the so-called photon energy wave function concept. In Part D, the spatial localization of photons are studied on a field theoretic (second-quantized) basis. The coarse-grained photon localization theory and the spatial localization perceived in various representations (gauges) here are core issues. In the two last parts of the review I describe photon fields in near-field optics (Part E), and the optical tunneling phenomenon, here seen as a fingerprint of weak photon localizability (Part F).