Deterministic modeling of hybrid nonlinear effects in epsilon-near-zero thin films
Abstract
In nonlinear optics, significant effort is concentrated on improving the strength and efficiency of interactions; however, experimentally investigating nonlinear materials is a complex, time-consuming, and costly investment. Moreover, it is often challenging to isolate, study, and optimize material parameters in an experiment due to complexities in the growth process. Recently, epsilon-near-zero materials have received a great deal of attention as promising nonlinear optical materials, but like many up-and-coming materials, the ability to explore and optimize their properties has been challenging. Here, we establish a framework to rapidly evaluate the performance of nonlinear epsilon-near-zero materials for both inter- and intraband effects in silico, requiring only an energy–momentum (E–k) diagram, linear optical properties, and experimental conditions. Measured nonlinear reflection and transmission in gallium-doped zinc oxide films are compared to the numerical framework for both intra- and interband excitation to verify accuracy across wavelength and irradiance while two figures of merit (FoMs) are introduced to quickly evaluate the performance of films without a full numerical framework. This capability is used to predict the performance of highly doped gallium nitride, cadmium oxide, zinc oxide, and indium tin oxide films, and efficient intra- and interband operation conditions are identified. Through this numerical framework and the FoMs, the exploration of unstudied epsilon-near-zero materials is enabled without the need for a nonlinear experiment, thereby accelerating the search for more efficient nonlinear materials and excitation conditions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 17, 2022
- Source ID
- 10.1063/5.0077116
Entities
People
- Adam Ball
- B. Diroll
- D. O. Demchenko
- Dhruv Fomra
- Jacob B Khurgin
- Kai Ding
- Nathaniel Kinsey
- Ray Secondo
- V. Avrutin
- Ümit Özgür
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Johns Hopkins University
- United States Department of Energy
- Virginia Commonwealth University