Low-Symmetry Nanophotonics

Abstract: Photonics and optoelectronics are at the foundations of widespread technologies, from high-speed Internet to systems for artificial intelligence, automotive LiDAR, and optical quantum computing. Light enables ultrafast speeds and low energy for all-optical information processing and transport, especially when confined at the nanoscale level, at which the interactions of light with matter unveil new phenomena, and the role of local symmetries becomes crucial. In this Perspective, we discuss how symmetry violations provide unique opportunities for nanophotonics, tailoring wave interactions in nanostructures for a wide range of functionalities. We discuss geometrical broken symmetries for localized surface polaritons, the physics of moir\'e photonics, in-plane inversion symmetry breaking for valleytronics and nonradiative state control, time-reversal symmetry breaking for optical nonreciprocity, and parity-time symmetry breaking. Overall, our Perspective aims at presenting under a unified umbrella the role of symmetry breaking in controlling nanoscale light, and its widespread applications for optical technology.