Integrable non-reciprocal optical component, optical isolator, optical circulator and integrated circuit

An optical component comprising:

• at least one first port or optical guide, and a second port or optical guide, communicating between each other in non-reciprocal optical fashion, which connect said component or allow the connection thereof within a guided optical circuit, so as to be able to exchange an optical signal with said optical circuit on the one hand in a first direction and on the other hand in a second direction, which is opposite to the first direction, through at least one magneto-plasmonic guidance region;
• said component includes a plurality of regions that can be passed through successively by the optical signal travelling, in the first direction, from said first optical port towards said second optical port, said regions comprising at least, in this order:
• a selection region arranged to
• receive at input an input optical signal propagating there according to an input optical impedance z0eff, and
• emit at output, by means of plasmon guidance, an optical signal called selected optical signal, including a first plasmon mode and a second plasmon mode, defined as being the LR mode for one and the SR mode for the other, in which the second plasmon mode has an amplitude that is zero, or significantly lower than the first plasmon mode;
• a differentiation region arranged to receive at input the selected optical signal originating from the selection region, and guide it to an output part where it forms an optical signal called differentiated optical signal, by a guidance core called differentiation core extending between at least two interfaces, called differentiation interfaces;
• which differentiation interfaces:
• are formed between a core material and at least one outer material, of which one is dielectric and the other is metallic,
• are situated on two opposite sides, and
• are determined to produce between them a magneto-plasmonic guidance with magneto-optical effect;
• said output part being arranged to have, between said differentiation interfaces, a differentiation width Wd chosen so that the first plasmon mode of the signal has an amplitude asymmetry, between said differentiation interfaces, greater than a determined threshold;
• said differentiation region thus providing at output an asymmetrical optical signal, called differentiated signal, the amplitude of which is concentrated on the first differentiation interface;
• a non-reciprocal treatment region arranged to receive at input the differentiated signal originating from the differentiation region, and guide it via a treatment part to an output region where it forms an optical signal called treated optical signal;
• via a guidance core, called treatment core, extending between at least one first treatment interface and a second treatment interface;
• which treatment interfaces:
• are each formed between a treatment core material and an outer material, of which one is dielectric and the other is metallic,
• are situated on the same two opposite sides as the first and respectively second differentiation interfaces,
• are determined to produce between them a magneto-plasmonic guidance, and
• are arranged to have, between the input and the output of said treatment region, geometries that are not equivalent to each other;
• said non-reciprocal treatment part thus providing at output, in the first direction, a treated optical signal the amplitude of which has undergone a treatment produced by the geometry of the first treatment interface alone;
• while a signal called reverse signal, passing through said treatment region in the second direction, will undergo a treatment produced by the geometry of the second treatment interface alone or by both the two treatment interfaces, thus providing a treated reverse signal having undergone a different treatment from that undergone by the treated signal travelling in the first direction.