Maxwell's demon-like nonreciprocity by non-Hermitian gyrotropic metasurfaces

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel nonreciprocal transmission mechanism in non-Hermitian gyrotropic metasurfaces, inspired by Maxwell's demon, which could lead to compact nonreciprocal photonic devices.

Contribution

It introduces a new class of non-Hermitian gyrotropic metasurfaces that exhibit Maxwell's demon-like nonreciprocity in the linear regime, explained by a dual-dipole scattering model.

Findings

Supports nonreciprocal transmission at specific photon energies

Uses a dual-dipole model to explain antisymmetric nonreciprocity

Potential for designing compact nonreciprocal photonic devices

Abstract

We show that Maxwell's demon-like nonreciprocity can be supported in a class of non-Hermitian gyrotropic metasurfaces in the linear regime. The proposed metasurface functions as a transmission-only Maxwell's demon operating at a pair of photon energies. Based on multiple scattering theory, we construct a dual-dipole model to explain the underlying mechanism that leads to the antisymmetric nonreciprocal transmission. The results may inspire new designs of compact nonreciprocal devices for photonics.