Modular assembly of optical nanocircuits

A key element enabling the microelectronic technology advances of the past decades has been the conceptualization of complex circuits with versatile functionalities as being composed of the proper combination of basic ‘lumped’ circuit elements (for example, inductors and capacitors). In contrast, modern nanophotonic systems are still far from a similar level of sophistication, partially because of the lack of modularization of their response in terms of basic building blocks. Here we demonstrate the design, assembly and characterization of relatively complex photonic nanocircuits by accurately positioning a number of metallic and dielectric nanoparticles acting as modular lumped elements. The nanoparticle clusters produce the desired spectral response described by simple circuit rules and are shown to be dynamically reconfigurable by modifying the direction or polarization of impinging signals. Our work represents an important step towards extending the powerful modular design tools of electronic circuits into nanophotonic systems.