Optical Non-Reciprocity in Coupled Resonators Inspired by Photosynthetic Energy Transfer

TL;DR

This paper proposes a theoretical method to achieve optical non-reciprocity in coupled resonators inspired by photosynthetic energy transfer, highlighting the roles of frequency gradients and environmental interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to realize optical non-reciprocity based on photosynthetic energy transfer principles, emphasizing environmental effects and system parameters.

Findings

Non-reciprocity increases with frequency gradient and number of cavities.

Higher temperature weakens optical non-reciprocity.

The behavior is well described by detailed balance principles.

Abstract

Inspired by the photosynthetic energy transfer process, we theoretically propose a method to realize non-reciprocal optical transmission in an array of coupled resonators. The optical non-reciprocity of the coupled resonators arises from the frequency gradient between adjacent cavities and the interaction with the environment, which is similar to photosynthetic energy transfer. An increase in the frequency gradient or the number of the cavities can lead to better non-reciprocity. However, although a higher environment temperature will increase the total photon number in the coupled cavities, non-reciprocity will be weakened. All these findings can be well described by the detailed balance. Our discovery reveals the similarity between the noise-induced optical non-reciprocity and exciton energy transfer in natural photosynthesis.