Introduction from the special editors

Interest in the study of how laser radiation interacts with solid media, which arose in the 1960s right after lasers were invented, has not flagged since then. However, the accent of the studies has shifted with the passage of time as laser engineering has further developed and new materials have appeared. The main accent in earlier papers was on the radiant strength of optical media because of the need to create materials that undergo intense light fluxes. The range of studies subsequently expanded to include, along with traditional studies in the area of “power optics,” questions of creating new materials and structures that use laser methods to process them, as well as optical diagnosis methods. In particular, studies have recently begun on the features of the interaction of light with nanosize objects and, in an applied aspect, laser methods of creating and diagnosing nanoobjects and nanostructures.
The results of recent studies in these directions were reflected in the thematic section presented here. The articles in this section share their topics with the materials of the reports presented at the International Symposium on the Physical Fundamentals of Laser-Assisted Micro & Nanotechnologies (FLAMN16), held from June 27 to July 1, 2016 in St. Petersburg. Rather than simply recounting the texts of the reports, the articles proposed to your attention depict the evolution of the ideas that the authors presented at the symposium.