Fundamental limits to multi-functional and tunable nanophotonic response

Area of Science:

• Nanophotonics
• Optical Engineering
• Theoretical Physics

Background:

• Tunable and multi-functional nanophotonic devices are crucial for advanced applications.
• Understanding the fundamental performance limits of these devices is challenging due to the need for a single structure to perform optimally in multiple scenarios.
• Existing research lacks a unified theoretical framework to address these multi-functionality constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a general theoretical framework for understanding and computing the fundamental limits of multi-functional nanophotonic response.
• To introduce a method for imposing single-structure criteria in the design of nanophotonic devices.
• To demonstrate the framework's utility for specific applications in optical sensing and beam switching.

Main Methods:

• Developing a theoretical framework based on bounds to light-matter interactions.
• Rewriting nanophotonic design problems in terms of polarization fields.
• Introducing cross-correlation constraints to satisfy the single-structure requirement.

Main Results:

• A general theoretical framework for multi-functional nanophotonic response limits is established.
• The framework successfully incorporates the single-structure constraint through polarization fields and cross-correlation.
• Demonstrated utility for optimizing reflectivity contrast in optical sensing and efficiency in optical beam switching.

Conclusions:

• The presented theoretical framework provides a powerful tool for designing and understanding multi-functional nanophotonic devices.
• The approach generalizes to a wide range of active and multi-functional linear optical designs.
• This work lays the foundation for pushing the boundaries of nanophotonic device performance.