Tunable second harmonic generation by an all-dielectric diffractive metasurface embedded in liquid crystals

We experimentally demonstrate the possibility to modulate the second harmonic (SH) power emitted by nonlinear AlGaAs metasurfaces embedded in a liquid crystal (LC) matrix. This result is obtained by changing the relative in-plane orientation between the LC director and the linear polarization of the light at the excitation wavelength. According to numerical simulations, second-harmonic is efficiently radiated by the metasurfaces thanks to the sizeable second-order susceptibility of the material and the resonant excitation of either electric or magnetic dipole field distributions inside each meta-atom at the illuminating fundamental wavelength. This resonant behavior strongly depends on the geometric parameters, the crystallographic orientation, and the anisotropy of the metasurface, which can be optimized to modulate the emitted SH power by about one order of magnitude. The devised hybrid platforms are therefore appealing in view of enabling the electrical control of flat nonlinear optical devices.

Automated summary

We experimentally demonstrate the ability to modulate the second harmonic power emitted by nonlinear AlGaAs metasurfaces embedded in a liquid crystal matrix by changing the relative in-plane orientation between the liquid crystal director and the linear polarization of the excitation light. Numerical simulations show that this modulation is achieved by efficiently radiating the second harmonic through resonant excitation of electric or magnetic dipole field distributions inside each meta-atom. The resonant behavior depends on the geometric parameters, crystallographic orientation, and anisotropy of the metasurface, which can be optimized to modulate the emitted second harmonic power by approximately one order of magnitude.