Optical Non-Reciprocity in Coupled Resonators by Detailed Balance

Inspired by the photosynthetic energy transfer process, a method to realize non-reciprocal optical transmission in an array of coupled resonators is theoretically proposed. The optical non-reciprocity of the coupled resonators arises from the frequency gradient between adjacent cavities and the interaction with the environment, which is similar to photosynthetic energy transfer. An increase in the frequency gradient or the number of the cavities can lead to better non-reciprocity. However, although a higher environment temperature will increase the total photon number in the coupled cavities, non-reciprocity will be weakened. All these findings can be well described by the detailed balance. The similarity between the noise-induced optical non-reciprocity and exciton energy transfer in natural photosynthesis is revealed by the discovery.