Tunable unidirectional surface plasmon polariton launcher utilizing a graphene-based single asymmetric nanoantenna

We design and numerically investigate a graphene-based asymmetric nanoantenna microstructure that can be used to realize electrically controllable, unidirectionally propagating broadband surface plasmon polaritons. The device geometry facilitates the simultaneous excitation of two localized surface plasmons resonances in the whole structure, and consequently, the asymmetric nanoantenna can be considered as being composed of two oscillating magnetic dipoles, wherein the interference of the radiated electromagnetic waves leads to a unidirectional propagation effect. Our results indicate that our proposed active device is promising for realizing compactable, tunable, terahertz plasmonic light sources. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America