Giant enhancement of THz-frequency optical nonlinearity by phonon polariton in ionic crystals

The field of nonlinear optics has grown substantially in past decades, leading to tremendous progress in fundamental research and revolutionized applications. Traditionally, the optical nonlinearity for a light wave at frequencies beyond near-infrared is observed with very high peak intensity, as in most materials only the electronic nonlinearity dominates while ionic contribution is negligible. However, it was shown that the ionic contribution to nonlinearity can be much larger than the electronic one in microwave experiments. In the terahertz (THz) regime, phonon polariton may assist to substantially trigger the ionic nonlinearity of the crystals, so as to enhance even more the nonlinear optical susceptibility. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a giant second-order optical nonlinearity at THz frequency, orders of magnitude higher than that in the visible and microwave regimes. Different from previous work, the phonon-light coupling is achieved under a phase-matching setting, and the dynamic process of nonlinear THz generation is directly observed in a thin-film waveguide using a time-resolved imaging technique. Furthermore, a nonlinear modification to the Huang equations is proposed to explain the observed nonlinearity enhancement. This work brings about an effective approach to achieve high nonlinearity in ionic crystals, promising for applications in THz nonlinear technologies. Optical nonlinearity in the THz range is of interest for scientific applications. Here the authors show that THz nonlinearity in ionic crystals can be enhanced by orders of magnitude through phonon polaritons, which is also described by nonlinear modified Huang equations.

Automated summary

The field of nonlinear optics has experienced substantial growth in the past few decades, with researchers demonstrating a significant increase in second-order optical nonlinearity in the THz frequency range compared to visible and microwave regimes. The enhancement of THz nonlinearity in ionic crystals through phonon polaritons is described by nonlinear modified Huang equations. These findings expand the potential applications of high nonlinearity in ionic crystals in the field of THz nonlinear technologies.