Electrically controlled one-way photon flow in plasmonic nanostructures

Abstract

Photonics is frequently regarded as a potential pathway for substituting current solid-state electronics and as a promise for higher-speed all-optical computing. The fundamental challenges facing nanophotonics and electronics of the future are nanoscale on-chip integration of electronics and photonics with an efficient electric field tuning of light propagation, dynamic access to the light sources and material parameters of the system, as well as isolation of optical signals analogous to that in electronics. Here we suggest a paradigm for a monolithically integrated electronic control over the light propagation in nanoscale plasmonic waveguides. We theoretically demonstrate that magnetic field induced by the direct electric current flowing in metallic constituents of plasmonic nanostructures alters the material parameters and thus the optical signal flow. We use this principle for the design of an electrically controlled subwavelength optical isolator.