A nano-optical Yagi-Uda antenna driven by single emitters

Optical antennas are the counterparts of conventional radio frequency and microwave antennas for frequencies in the visible regime (-500 THz) [1]. They localize optical fields to sub-diffraction-limited volumes, enhance and redirect the excitation and emission of quantum emitters [2] as well as modify their spectra. They open up exciting opportunities in a wide range of fields including nonlinear light-matter interaction and superresolution microscopy.