Towards nanophotonic optical isolation via inverse design of energy transfer in nonreciprocal media

Cisowski, C. M., Waller, M. C. and Bennett, R. (2024) Towards nanophotonic optical isolation via inverse design of energy transfer in nonreciprocal media. Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, (Accepted for Publication)

Abstract

In this work we generalise the adjoint method of inverse design to nonreciprocal media. As a test case, we use three-dimensional topology optimization via the level-set method to optimise one-way energy transfer for point-like source and observation points. To achieve this we introduce a suite of tools, chiefly what we term the Faraday-adjoint' method which allows for efficient shape optimization in the presence of magneto-optical media. We carry out an optimization based on a very general equation that we derive for energy transfer in a nonreciprocal medium, and link finite-different time-domain numerics to analytics via a modified Born series generalised to a tensor permittivity. This work represents a stepping stone towards practical nanophotonic optical isolation, often regarded as the 'holy grail’ of integrated photonics.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Accepted for Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bennett, Dr Robert and Waller, Ms Madeline and Cisowski, Dr Claire Marie
• Authors: Cisowski, C. M., Waller, M. C., and Bennett, R.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• ISSN: 2469-9926
• ISSN (Online): 2469-9934