Nonlinear Optical Rectennas

TL;DR

This paper introduces nonlinear optical rectennas using strongly-coupled optical gap antennas that convert optical radiation into electrical signals at the nanoscale, enabling advanced optoelectronic functionalities.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach to interface optical radiation with electronic currents via nonlinear optical antennas operating in the tunneling regime, expanding nanoscale optoelectronic capabilities.

Findings

Demonstrated that two-wire optical antennas enable enhanced optoelectronic functionalities.

Showed that nonlinear properties of optical antennas can be harnessed for efficient optical-to-electrical conversion.

Proposed a physical mechanism for controlling optical-electrical transduction at the nanoscale.

Abstract

We introduce strongly-coupled optical gap antennas to interface optical radiation with current-carrying electrons at the nanoscale. The transducer relies on the nonlinear optical and electrical properties of an optical antenna operating in the tunneling regime. We discuss the underlying physical mechanisms controlling the conversion and demonstrate that a two-wire optical antenna can provide advanced optoelectronic functionalities beyond tailoring the electromagnetic response of a single emitter. Interfacing an electronic command layer with a nanoscale optical device may thus be facilitated by the optical rectennas discussed here.