In recent years, interest in infrared (IR) imaging has grown, motivated by applications in surveillance, quality control and healthcare. However, conventional IR imaging devices are limited by their low temperature operations and high-noise levels. Nonlinear metasurfaces offer a promising platform for up-conversion IR imaging, potentially allowing multi-color IR imaging in compact devices, at room temperature. Here, we demonstrate up-conversion IR imaging by employing a nonlocal lithium niobate metasurface supporting guided mode resonances. Driven by the resonant enhancement of the incident field, we demonstrate up-conversion of short-wave IR images at 1530 nm to visible images at 550 nm. Our study has important applications in the future development of compact night vision instruments and sensor devices.
We study the nonlinear optical up-conversion of doubly resonant GaP metasurfaces based on bound state in the continuum (BIC) resonances driven by leaky-waveguide modes. The fabricated metasurface is simultaneously illuminated by two excitation beams, pump and signals beams, exciting transverse-electric and -magnetic waveguide modes. The nonlinear mixing of these modes results in generation of strong sum-frequency emission in the visible spectrum. We observe a non-trivial dependence of the sum-frequency emission with the polarization of the pump beam, explained by the excitation of multipoles at the SFG wavelength. A normalized conversion efficiency of 3.5 × 10-5 [W-1] is measured in the forward direction.
Infrared imaging is a crucial technique in a multitude of applications, including night vision, autonomous vehicle navigation, optical tomography, and food quality control. Conventional infrared imaging technologies, however, require the use of materials such as narrow bandgap semiconductors, which are sensitive to thermal noise and often require cryogenic cooling. We demonstrate a compact all-optical alternative to perform infrared imaging in a metasurface composed of GaAs semiconductor nanoantennas, using a nonlinear wave-mixing process. We experimentally show the upconversion of short-wave infrared wavelengths via the coherent parametric process of sum-frequency generation. In this process, an infrared image of a target is mixed inside the metasurface with a strong pump beam, translating the image from the infrared to the visible in a nanoscale ultrathin imaging device. Our results open up new opportunities for the development of compact infrared imaging devices with applications in infrared vision and life sciences.
Dielectric metasurfaces have recently shown to be an excellent candidate for efficient frequency mixing at the nanoscale due to the excitation of Mie resonances. Among various dielectric materials, GaAs-based nanostructures have been reported to have high-efficiency of second-order nonlinear processes due to their high quadratic nonlinear susceptibility. Efficient frequency up-conversion can thereby be realised in GaAs-based metasurfaces through the process of sum-frequency generation (SFG), thereby opening new opportunities for nonlinear imaging and infrared vision not possible before. Here we demonstrate for the first time, infrared imaging based on nonlinear mixing of an infrared image with a pump beam in a GaAs resonant metasurface. The nonlinear mixing process generates visible images (Fig. 1a), which can be time resolved with femtosecond resolution and can be observed on a conventional CMOS sensor. Our results open new opportunities for the development of compact night-vision devices operating at room temperature and have multiple applications in defense and life sciences.
We propose an ultra-thin silicon metasurface supporting a high-quality leaky mode which is formed by partially breaking a bound-state-in-the-continuum (BIC) generated by the collective magnetic dipole (MD) resonance excited in the subdiffractive periodic systems. Such a quasi-BIC MD state leads to a robust near-field enhancement and a significant boost of the nonlinear process, resulting in measured 500-fold enhancement of third-harmonic emission in comparison to the conventional silicon disk metasurface. We further experimentally demonstrate the highly-efficient nonlinear image tuning via polarisation and wavelength control, opening the way for various applications in high-performance nonlinear metadevices including tunable laser, tunable displays, nonlinear imaging.
Switching the scattering direction of high-index dielectric nanoantennas between forward and backward, via Mie resonances in the linear regime, has been widely studied, recently. However, switching the harmonic emission of nanoantennas without applying any physical change to the antennas, such as geometry, or environment, is a chal- lenging task that has not been demonstrated yet. Here, we investigate multipolar second-harmonic switch from GaAs nanoantennas. Based on the peculiar nonlinearities of zinc-blende semiconductors, we demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally unidirectional nonlinear emission routing and switching via pump polarization control. Our results offer exciting opportunities for nonlinear nanophotonics technologies, such as nanoscale light routing elements, nonlinear light sources, nonlinear imaging, multifunctional flat optical elements.
The group of zincblende III-V compound semiconductors, especially (100)-grown AlGaAs and GaAs, have recently been presented as promising materials for second harmonic generation (SHG) at the nanoscale. However, major obstacles to push the technology towards practical applications are the limited control over directionality of the SH emission and especially zero forward/backward radiation. In this work we provide both theoretically and experimentally a solution to these problems by presenting the first SHG nanoantennas made from (111)-GaAs embedded in a low index material. These nanoantennas show superior forward directionality compared to their (100)-counterparts. Most importantly, it is possible to manipulate the SHG radiation pattern of the nanoantennas by changing the pump polarization without affecting the linear properties and the total nonlinear conversion efficiency.
Dielectric nanoantennas and metasurfaces have proven to be able to manipulate the wavefront of incoming waves with high transmission efficiency. The important next question is: Can they enable enhanced interaction with the light to transform its colour or to be able to control one light beam with another? Here we show how a dielectric nano-resonator of subwavelength size can enable enhanced light matter interaction for efficient nonlinear frequency conversion. In particular, we show how AlGaAs or silicon nanoantennas can enhance second and third harmonic generation, respectively. Importantly, by controlling the size of the antennas, we can achieve control of directionality and polarisation state of the emission of harmonics. Our results open novel applications in ultra-thin light sources, light switches and modulators, ultra-fast displays, and other nonlinear optical metadevices based on low loss subwavelength dielectric resonant nanoparticles.
Optical nanoantennas possess great potential for controlling the spatial distribution of light in the linear regime as well as for frequency conversion of the incoming light in the nonlinear regime. However, the usually used plasmonic nanostructures are highly restricted by Ohmic losses and heat resistance. Dielectric nanoparticles like silicon and germanium can overcome these constrains [1,2], however second harmonic signal cannot be generated in these materials due to their centrosymmetric nature. GaAs-based III-V semiconductors, with non-centrosymmetric crystallinity, can produce second harmonic generation (SHG) [3]. Unfortunately, generating and studying SHG by AlGaAs nanocrystals in both backward and forward directions is very challenging due to difficulties to fabricate III-V semiconductors on low-refractive index substrate, like glass. Here, for the first time to our knowledge, we designed and fabricated AlGaAs nanoantennas on a glass substrate. This novel design allows the excitation, control and detection of backwards and forwards SHG nonlinear signals. Different complex spatial distribution in the SHG signal, including radial and azimuthal polarization originated from the excitation of electric and magnetic multipoles were observed. We have demonstrated an unprecedented SHG conversion efficiency of 10-4; a breakthrough that can open new opportunities for enhancing the performance of light emission and sensing [4].
References
[1] A. S. Shorokhov et al. Nano Letters 16, 4857 (2016).
[2] G. Grinblat et al. Nano Letters 16, 4635 (2016).
[3] S. Liu et al. Nano Letters 16, 7191 (2016).
[4] R. Camacho et al. Nano Lett. 16, 7191 (2016).
Metallic nanoantenna possess versatile scattering properties enabling to engineer the emission directionality at the nanoscale. However, due to their Ohmic losses and low heat resistance they cannot be practically applied in nonlinear optical processes for optical frequency conversion. Dielectric nanoparticles, e.g. silicon and germanium, are good candidates to overcome these limitations [1, 2]. Nevertheless, the centrosymmetric nature of these materials have voided the second-harmonic generation (SHG). Alternatively, the use of GaAs-based III-V semiconductors, with non-centrosymmetric structures, can overcome this difficulty [3,4]. However, fabrication of III-V semiconductor nanoantennas on low refractive index substrates remains very challenging, blocking the possibility to explore the SHG directionality in both forward and backward direction. Here, for the first time to our knowledge, we design and fabricate high-quality AlGaAs nanostructures on a glass substrate. Through this novel platform, we manage to excite, control and detect backward and forward nonlinear signals by SHG in AlGaAs nanodisks [5,6]. In particular, we observe that for certain size of nanoantenna, the SHG emission has a complex spatial distribution polarization state corresponding to radial polarization in the forward direction and a polarization state of a more general nature in the backward direction. Furthermore, we demonstrate an unprecedented SHG conversion efficiency of 10-4. Our breakthrough can open new avenues for enhancing the performance of photodetection, light emission and sensing.v
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