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Antenna parameters particularly relevant to electrically small antenna design are reviewed in this paper. Source current definitions are accentuated leading to the introduction of the source concept which advantageously utilize only spatially bounded quantities. The framework of the source concept incorporates powerful techniques such as structural and modal decomposition, operator’s inversion and current optimization, thus opening new, challenging possibilities for antenna design, analysis and synthesis.

The possibility of using plasmonic nanoantennas in interaction with electron beams to form a wideband few-photon source is demonstrated here using numerical investigations. The generated photons are guided inside a waveguide, which is coupled to the nanoantennas. Using two replicas of a nanoantenna at an optimized distance, and providing a guided path for the emitted photon from the first nanoantenna to the second one by positioning a resonator feedback element, it is possible to form an interference between the photons generated by the two nanoantennas. The interference phenomenon is used to produce a unidirectional flow of power in the waveguide, as well as a high collection efficiency. The investigations are carried out in a self-consistent way, utilizing a conjugate Maxwell and Lorentz system of equations, in order to be able to simulate the modulation of the electron velocity due to the interaction with an optical system which is initially at rest.