Absorption by an optical dipole antenna in a structured environment

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how the environment affects the absorption properties of optical dipole nanoantennas, providing formulas that account for radiation reaction and local density of states, enabling environmental engineering and sensing applications.

Contribution

It derives explicit expressions for absorption and extinction cross-sections of nanoantennas in structured environments, highlighting environmental influence on their optical properties.

Findings

Environmental engineering can modify antenna absorption and resonance.

Dipole antennas can probe photonic environments.

Explicit formulas include radiation reaction and local density of states.

Abstract

We compute generalized absorption and extinction cross-sections of an optical dipole nanoantenna in a structured environment. The expressions explicitly show the influence of radiation reaction and the local density of states on the intrinsic absorption properties of the antenna. Engineering the environment could allow to modify the overall absorption as well as the frequency and the linewidth of a resonant antenna. Conversely, a dipole antenna can be used to probe the photonic environment, in a similar way as a quantum emitter.