Original title: Controlling the Coupling Strengths in Nanophotonic Networks using Modified Yagi-Uda Nanoplasmonic Antennas
Vidar Flodgren, Anders Mikkelsen · August 2026
Computer chips that use light to process information often rely on tiny light pipes called waveguides. These pipes take up a lot of space. To make these systems much smaller, researchers designed a way to send light through open space between nanoscale devices instead of using pipes. The system pairs tiny semiconductor nanowires that send and detect light with miniature metal antennas. These antennas shape and direct the light waves. By changing the shape and placement of the antennas, the researchers control how much light travels between specific nodes, which sets the connection strengths needed for optical neural networks. When they gave the antennas an asymmetrical part, the nodes could send light in several directions at the same time. In simulations with two layers of seven nodes each, this setup produced complex, adjustable connection strengths while keeping the network compact.
You are in a room with several friends and want to whisper a message to just one of them. Using a paper tube to direct your voice is bulky and only works for one person at a time. In this paper, the nanowires are like the friends, the light is the voice, and the modified antenna is like a small reflector that can direct the light to multiple receivers at once, avoiding the need for bulky waveguides.
Optical neural networks promise faster computing, but they usually need bulky waveguides to connect components. This work shows how tiny antennas can broadcast light directly between nanowires, drastically shrinking the system. That could lead to compact, energy-efficient optical processors for tasks like image recognition.
This work is based on simulations only, not experimental demonstrations. The results are shown for specific geometries and network sizes (two layers of seven nodes each). Practical implementation would require fabrication and testing. The generalizability to other emitter/receiver systems is suggested but not demonstrated.
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Controlling the Coupling Strengths in Nanophotonic Networks using Modified Yagi-Uda Nanoplasmonic Antennas — Vidar Flodgren, Anders Mikkelsen
Abstract licence: CC0
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper. This is a preprint, so it hasn't necessarily been peer reviewed.