Nanophotonic Devices and Fundamental Functional Operations

In nanophotonic device operations, characteristic features on a nanometer scale, such as locally excited states, dependence on the excitation number, and spatial symmetry of a system, play an important role. Using these features, selective excitation energy transfer via an optical near field is shown for a quantum-dot system with discrete energy levels. This selectivity strongly depends on a dipole-inactive state of an exciton, which cannot be excited by the far-field light. Operation principles of logic gates, photon storage, and quantum information processing device, which are based on the selectivity, are proposed, and the temporal dynamics are investigated analytically and numerically by using quantum theory. Nanophotonic devices, which are constructed from quantum mechanical and classical dissipative systems, are expected to become one of a key technologies in future device architecture.