Strategies to enhance THz harmonic generation combining multilayered, gated, and metamaterial-based architectures

Ali Maleki; Moritz B. Heindl; Yongbao Xin; Robert W. Boyd; Georg Herink; Jean-Michel Ménard

doi:10.1038/s41377-024-01657-1

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Strategies to enhance THz harmonic generation combining multilayered, gated, and metamaterial-based architectures

Original Articles

- Strategies to enhance THz harmonic generation combining multilayered, gated, and metamaterial-based architectures
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 14, Issue 2, Pages: 356-365(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
  2.Experimental Physics Ⅷ – Ultrafast Dynamics, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth 95447, Germany
  3.Iridian Spectral Technologies Ltd, Ottawa, ON K1G 6R8, Canada
  4.School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada
  5.Institute of Optics and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
- Author bio：
  
  Jean-Michel Ménard (jean-michel.menard@uottawa.ca)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-024-01657-1
  CLC：
- Received：20 May 2024，
  
  Revised：23 September 2024，
  
  Accepted：2024-09-29，
  
  Published Online：09 January 2025，
  
  Published：28 February 2025
- Accepted：
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Maleki, A. et al. Strategies to enhance THz harmonic generation combining multilayered, gated, and metamaterial-based architectures. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 356-365 (2025).
DOI：

Maleki, A. et al. Strategies to enhance THz harmonic generation combining multilayered, gated, and metamaterial-based architectures. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 356-365 (2025). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-024-01657-1.

摘要

Abstract

Graphene has unique properties paving the way for groundbreaking future applications. Its large optical nonlinearity and ease of integration in devices notably makes it an ideal candidate to become a key component for all-optical switching and frequency conversion applications. In the terahertz (THz) region

various approaches have been independently demonstrated to optimize the nonlinear effects in graphene

addressing a critical limitation arising from the atomically thin interaction length. Here

we demonstrate sample architectures that combine strategies to enhance THz nonlinearities in graphene-based structures. We achieve this by increasing the interaction length through a multilayered design

controlling carrier density with an electrical gate

and modulating the THz field spatial distribution with a metallic metasurface substrate. Our study specifically investigates third harmonic generation (THG) using a table-top high-field THz source. We measure THG enhancement factors exceeding thirty and propose architectures capable of achieving a two-order-of-magnitude increase. These findings underscore the potential of engineered graphene-based structures in advancing THz frequency conversion technologies for signal processing and wireless communication applications.

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references

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