Nanoradar based on nonlinear dimer nanoantenna

TL;DR

This paper presents a nanoradar concept utilizing a nonlinear plasmonic nanoantenna that exploits modulational instability in a dimer structure to achieve dynamic, wide-angle scanning with fast response for nanophotonic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel nanoradar based on nonlinear plasmonic nanoantennas exploiting modulational instability for dynamic beam scanning.

Findings

Wide scanning sector demonstrated

Low operation threshold achieved

Ultrafast response observed

Abstract

We introduce the concept of a nanoradar based on the operation of a nonlinear plasmonic nanoantenna. The nanoradar action originates from modulational instability occurred in a dimer nanoantenna consisting of two subwavelength nonlinear nanoparticles. Modulation instability causes a dynamical energy exchange between the nanoantenna eigenmodes resulting in periodic scanning of the nanoantenna scattering pattern. Such nanoradar demonstrates a wide scanning sector, low operation threshold, and ultrafast time response being potentially useful for many applications in nanophotonics circuitry.