Dynamically reconfigurable directionality of plasmon-based single photon sources

TL;DR

This paper introduces a plasmonic reconfigurable antenna that can dynamically control the directionality of single-photon emission, enabling switchable narrow beams for quantum communication.

Contribution

It presents a novel design of a plasmon-based antenna with switchable emission directionality using engineered dispersion relations in particle arrays.

Findings

Crossed particle arrays can split photon streams into multiple beams.

Beams can be switched on and off by changing the host refractive index.

The design is applicable to traveling wave antennas for quantum communication.

Abstract

We propose a plasmon-based reconfigurable antenna to controllably distribute emission from single quantum emitters in spatially separated channels. Our calculations show that crossed particle arrays can split the stream of photons from a single emitter into multiple narrow beams. We predict that beams can be switched on and off by switching host refractive index. The design method is based on engineering the dispersion relations of plasmon chains and is generally applicable to traveling wave antennas. Controllable photon delivery has potential applications in classical and quantum communication.