An optical metamixer

Sheng Liu; Polina P. Vabishchevich; Aleksandr Vaskin; John L. Reno; Gordon A. Keeler; Michael B. Sinclair; Isabelle Staude; Igal Brener

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04944-9

arXiv · 1711.00090

An optical metamixer

Sheng Liu·Polina P. Vabishchevich·Aleksandr Vaskin·John L. Reno·Gordon A. Keeler·Michael B. Sinclair·Isabelle Staude·Igal Brener

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Abstract

A frequency mixer is a nonlinear device that combines electromagnetic waves to create waves at new frequencies. Mixers are ubiquitous components in modern radio-frequency technology and are widely used in microwave signal processing. The development of versatile frequency mixers for optical frequencies remains challenging: such devices generally rely on weak nonlinear optical processes and, thus, must satisfy phase matching conditions. In this work, we utilize a GaAs-based dielectric metasurface to demonstrate an optical frequency mixer that concurrently generates eleven new frequencies spanning the ultraviolet to near-infrared (NIR) spectral range. Our approach combines strong intrinsic material nonlinearities, enhanced electromagnetic fields, and relaxed phase-matching requirements, to allow seven different nonlinear optical processes to occur simultaneously. Specifically, when pumped by two femtosecond NIR pulses, we observe second-, third- and fourth-harmonic generation, sum-frequency generation, two-photon absorption induced photoluminescence, four-wave mixing, and six-wave mixing. Such ultracompact optical mixers may enable a plethora of applications in biology, chemistry, sensing, communications and quantum optics.

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Sheng Liu, Polina P. Vabishchevich, Aleksandr Vaskin, John L. Reno, Gordon A. Keeler, Michael B. Sinclair, Isabelle Staude, Igal Brener. 2017-10-31. An optical metamixer. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-04944-9

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