ABSTRACT
Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis-e times change, and we change with them. As progress in physics opened the way to new radiation sources and optical applications, and chemical physics showed the way into micro-and nanoscale technology, awareness grew that photophysical and photochemical processes may lead to new products and more economic manufacturing. At the same time, it was also ocially realized that the material and energetic resources of our planet are limited and that the capacity of the planet’s ecosystem to digest all kinds of xenobiotic waste is getting to its limits. In this context, dierent domains of photophysics and photochemistry are receiving more attention and support from both governmental and industrial operators, as they oer the prospect to master key technologies for the development and production of new materials and to lead to new processes that may be qualied as “environmentally friendly” (keyword: green chemistry [1]). is situation fosters research in general but also the technical development of products and processes for a large variety of applications.
