2023/02/26 by Benoît Reynier, Xingyu Yang, Reynier, Benoît +7
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Near-Field Optical Microscopy #Optics (physics.optics) #Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics #Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2302.13297
openalex publication_date 2023/02/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Magnetic monopoles are hypothetical particles that, like electric monopoles which generate electric fields, are at the origin of magnetic fields. Despite many efforts, to date, these theoretical particles have yet to be observed. Nevertheless, many systems or physical phenomena can be related to magnetic monopole behavior. Here, we propose a new type of photonic nanoantenna behaving as a radiating magnetic monopole. We demonstrate that a half-nanoslit in a semi-infinite gold layer generates a single pole of an enhanced magnetic field at the nanoscale and that this single pole radiates efficiently in the far field. This original antenna concept opens the way to a new model system to study magnetic monopoles, to a new source of optical magnetic field to study the "magnetic light" and matter coupling, and allows potential applications at other frequencies such as magnetic resonance imaging.