Nonlinear Self-Action across Temporal Regimes in Resonant Dielectric Metasurfaces

Abstract

Quasi-bound states in the continuum (qBICs) enable exceptional field confinement, strongly reducing the pump intensity threshold for nonlinear light-matter interaction in dielectric metasurfaces. As a result, nonlinear self-action effects, often elusive in bulk nonlinear media, emerge at moderate excitation intensities. Here, nonlinear self-action in resonantly enhanced third-harmonic (TH) generation from a dielectric metasurface supporting a qBIC resonance is investigated across distinct temporal excitation regimes. These regimes establish different coupling conditions between the excitation and the resonant mode, causing the same nonlinear self-action to emerge through complementary intensity-dependent signatures. Under spectrally narrow picosecond excitation, resonance-enhanced TH generation shows pronounced deviations from cubic scaling at high intensities. In contrast, broadband femtosecond excitation transiently drives the resonance, encoding the nonlinear response in the spectral reshaping and broadening of the TH signal. Simulations reproduce both regimes: continuous-wave modeling captures picosecond power scaling and the role of higher-order nonlinear susceptibilities, while time-domain simulations resolve femtosecond dynamics. These results clarify how pulse duration, bandwidth, and resonant coupling determine the observable signatures of nonlinear self-action in resonant dielectric metasurfaces, linking field confinement to conversion efficiency, power-law scaling, and ultrafast spectral dynamics.