Nonreciprocal light propagation induced by a subwavelength spinning cylinder

Abstract

Nonreciprocal optical devices have broad applications in light manipulations for communications and sensing. Non-magnetic mechanisms of optical nonreciprocity are highly desired for high-frequency on-chip applications. Here, we investigate the nonreciprocal properties of light propagation in a dielectric waveguide induced by a subwavelength spinning cylinder. We find that the chiral modes of the cylinder can give rise to unidirectional coupling with the waveguide via the transverse spin-orbit interaction, leading to different transmissions for guided wave propagating in opposite directions and thus optical isolation. We reveal the dependence of the nonreciprocal properties on various system parameters including mode order, spinning speed, coupling distance, and various losses. The results show that higher-order chiral modes and larger spinning speed generally give rise to stronger nonreciprocity, and there exists an optimal cylinder-waveguide coupling distance where the optical isolation reaches the maximum. The properties are sensitive to the material loss of the cylinder but show robustness against surface-roughness-induced loss in the waveguide. Our work contributes to the understanding of nonreciprocity in subwavelength moving structures and can find applications in integrated photonic circuits, topological photonics, and novel metasurfaces.