Liu, WeiKivshar, Yuri2021-08-172021-08-171364-503Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/243969Scattering of electromagnetic waves by an arbitrary nanoscale object can be characterized by a multipole decomposition of the electromagnetic field that allows to describe the scattering intensity and radiation pattern through interferences of dominating excited multipole modes. In modern nanophotonics, both generation and interference of multipole modes start to play an indispensable role, and they enable nanoscale manipulation of light with many related applications. Here we review the multipolar interference effects in metallic, metal-dielectric, and dielectric nanostructures, and suggest a comprehensive view on many phenomena involving the interferences of electric, magnetic and toroidal multipoles, which drive a number of recently discussed effects in nanophotonics such as unidirectional scattering, effective optical antiferromagnetism, generalized Kerker scattering with controlled angular patterns, generalized Brewster angle, and nonradiating optical anapoles. We further discuss other types of possible multipolar interference effects not yet exploited in literature and envisage the prospect of achieving more flexible and advanced nanoscale control of light relying on the concepts of multipolar interference through full phase and amplitude engineering.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 11404403), the Basic Research Scheme of College of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, National University of Defence Technology (China) and several grants of the Australian Research Council.application/pdfen-AU© 2017 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Societymultipole expansionMie resonancesinterferencenanostructuresanapole201710.1098/rsta.2016.03172020-11-23