Modelling spatio-temporal dynamics of chiral coupling of quantum emitters to light fields in nanophotonic structures

Abstract: A quantum emitter placed in a nanophotonic structure can result in non-reciprocal phenomena like chiral light excitation. Here, we present a theoretical model to couple circularly polarized emitters described by the density matrix formalism to the electromagnetic fields within a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. In particular, we discuss how to implement complex electric fields in the simulation to make use of the rotating wave approximation. By applying our model to a quantum emitter in a dielectric waveguide and an optical circulator, we show how the excitation of the quantum system depends on its position and polarization. In turn, the backcoupling can result in strongly asymmetric light excitation. Our framework and results will help better understand spatio-temporal dynamics of light field in nanophotonic structures containing quantum emitters.