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Electrically-driven Yagi-Uda antennas for light

, , , , and . Nat Commun, 11 (1): 1-7 (Jan 8, 2020)<i style="font-style: normal;"><b>press:</b><br> <a href="https://www.pro-physik.de/nachrichten/nano-antennen-fuer-den-datentransfer">pro-physik.de</a>, <a href="https://www.elektronik-informationen.de/nanoantennen-fuer-den-datentransfer/150/23202/398077">elektronik-informationen.de</a>, <a href="https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Nanoantennas_for_Data_Transfer/a65445">photonics.com</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200108074755.htm">sciencedaily.com</a>, <a href="https://www.laboratory-journal.com/news/scientific-news/nano-antennas-data-transfer">laboratory-journal.com</a>, <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-01-nano-antennas.html">phys.org</a>, <a href="https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news2/newsid=54323.php">nanowerk.com</a>, <a href="https://www.nanopartz.com/Customer-Spotlight/Wuerzburg-Antennas.asp">Gold Nanoparticles (nanopartz)</a>, <a href="https://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/energy-engineering/nano-antennas-for-data-transfer.html">innovations-report.com</a>, <a href="https://bestresearchreports.com/2020/01/30/nano-antennas-for-data-transfer/">bestresearchreports.com</a>, <a href="http://trendintech.com/2020/01/25/wurzburg-physicists-develop-the-worlds-first-directional-antenna-for-light/">trendintech.com</a>, <a href="https://www.electronicsonline.net.au/content/components/news/nano-antennas-enable-data-transfer-1514775135#axzz6Cba5BvX6">electronicsonline.net</a>, <a href="https://idw-online.de/de/news729582">idw-online.de</a>, <a href="https://scitechdaily.com/nano-antennas-for-data-transfer-could-allow-processor-cores-to-exchange-data-at-speed-of-light/">scitechdaily.com</a>, <a href="https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/nano-scale-antennas-for-optical-data-communication/">advancedsciencenews.com</a></i>.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-14011-6

Abstract

Yagi-Uda antennas are a key technology for efficiently transmitting information from point to point using radio waves. Since higher frequencies allow higher bandwidths and smaller footprints, a strong incentive exists to shrink Yagi-Uda antennas down to the optical regime. Here we demonstrate electrically-driven Yagi-Uda antennas for light with wavelength-scale footprints that exhibit large directionalities with forward-to-backward ratios of up to 9.1 dB. Light generation is achieved via antenna-enhanced inelastic tunneling of electrons over the antenna feed gap. We obtain reproducible tunnel gaps by means of feedback-controlled dielectrophoresis, which precisely places single surface-passivated gold nanoparticles in the antenna gap. The resulting antennas perform equivalent to radio-frequency antennas and combined with waveguiding layers even outperform RF designs. This work paves the way for optical on-chip data communication that is not restricted by Joule heating but also for advanced light management in nanoscale sensing and metrology as well as light emitting devices.

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