Visible photon generation via four-wave mixing in near-infrared near-zero-index thin films

Abstract

Optical nonlinearities can be strongly enhanced by operating in the so-called near-zero-index (NZI) regime, where the real part of the refractive index of the system under investigation approaches zero. Here we experimentally demonstrate semi-degenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) in aluminum zinc oxide thin films generating radiation tunable in the visible spectral region, where the material is highly transparent. To this end, we employed an intense pump (787 nm) and a seed tunable in the NIR window (1100–1500 nm) to generate a visible idler wave (530–620 nm). Experiments show enhancement of the frequency conversion efficiency with a maximum of 2% and a signal-to-pump detuning of 360 nm. Effective idler wavelength tuning has also been demonstrated by operating on the temporal delay between the pump and signal.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Oct 28, 2021
Source ID
10.1364/ol.433834

Entities

People

  • Alexandra Boltasseva
  • Clayton Devault
  • Daniele Faccio
  • Enrico G. Carnemolla
  • Fabio Biancalana
  • Lucia Caspani
  • Marcello Ferrera
  • Matteo Clerici
  • Vladimir Shalaev
  • Wallace Jaffray

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland
  • Division of Materials Research
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
  • Heriot-Watt University
  • Office of Naval Research
  • Purdue University
  • UK Research and Innovation
  • University of Glasgow
  • University of Strathclyde

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Optical Physics and Photonics.