Breaking Lorentz reciprocity with frequency conversion and delay

We introduce a method for breaking Lorentz reciprocity based upon the non-commutation of frequency conversion and delay. The method requires no magnetic materials or resonant physics, allowing for the design of scalable and broadband non-reciprocal circuits. With this approach, two types of gyrators — universal building blocks for linear, non-reciprocal circuits — are constructed. Using one of these gyrators, we create a circulator with > 15 dB of isolation across the 5 — 9 GHz band. Our designs may be readily extended to any platform with suitable frequency conversion elements, including semiconducting devices for telecommunication or an on-chip superconducting implementation for quantum information processing.