Nonlinear metal-dielectric nanoantennas for light switching and routing

Abstract

We introduce a novel hybrid metal-dielectric nanoantenna composed of dielectric (crystalline silicon) and metal (silver) nanoparticles. A high-permittivity dielectric nanoparticle allows to achieve effective light harvesting, and nonlinearity of a metal nanoparticle controls the radiation direction. We show that the radiation pattern of such a nanoantenna can be switched between the forward and backward directions by varying only the light intensity around the level of 11 MW/cm$^2$, with the characteristic switching time of 260 fs.