Interface second harmonic generation enhancement in bulk WS<sub>2</sub>/MoS<sub>2</sub> hetero-bilayer van der Waals nanoantennas

Andrea Tognazzi; Paolo Franceschini; Jonas Biechteler; Enrico Baù; Alfonso Carmelo Cino; Andreas Tittl; Costantino De Angelis; Luca Sortino

doi:10.1038/s41377-025-01983-y

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

Interface second harmonic generation enhancement in bulk WS₂/MoS₂ hetero-bilayer van der Waals nanoantennas

Original Articles

- Interface second harmonic generation enhancement in bulk WS₂/MoS₂ hetero-bilayer van der Waals nanoantennas
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 14, Issue 11, Pages: 3594-3601(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy
  2.National Institute of Optics - National Research Council (INO-CNR), Via Branze 45, 25123 Brescia, Italy
  3.Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, Italy
  4.Chair in Hybrid Nanosystems, Nanoinstitute Munich, Faculty of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80539 Munich, Germany
- Author bio：
  
  Andrea Tognazzi (andrea.tognazzi@unipa.it)
  Paolo Franceschini (paolo.franceschini@unibs.it)
  Luca Sortino (luca.sortino@physik.uni-muenchen.de)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-01983-y
  CLC：
- Received：07 November 2024，
  
  Revised：2025-07-07，
  
  Accepted：23 July 2025，
  
  Published Online：29 September 2025，
  
  Published：30 November 2025
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Tognazzi, A. et al. Interface second harmonic generation enhancement in bulk WS₂/MoS₂ hetero-bilayer van der Waals nanoantennas. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 3594-3601 (2025).
DOI：

Tognazzi, A. et al. Interface second harmonic generation enhancement in bulk WS₂/MoS₂ hetero-bilayer van der Waals nanoantennas. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 3594-3601 (2025). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-025-01983-y.

摘要

Abstract

Layered van der Waals (vdW) materials have emerged as a promising platform for nanophotonics due to large refractive indexes and giant optical anisotropy. Unlike conventional dielectrics and semiconductors

the absence of covalent bonds between layers allows for novel degrees of freedom in designing optically resonant nanophotonic structures down to the atomic scale: from the precise stacking of vertical heterostructures to controlling the twist angle between crystallographic axes. Specifically

although monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides exhibit giant second-order nonlinear responses

their bulk counterparts with 2H stacking possess zero second-order nonlinearity. In this work

we investigate second harmonic generation (SHG) arising from the interface of WS

/MoS

hetero-bilayer thin films with an additional SHG enhancement in nanostructured optical antennas

mediated by both the excitonic resonances and the anapole-driven field enhancement. When both conditions are met

we observe up to 10

SHG signal enhancement

compared to unstructured bilayers

with SHG conversion efficiency reaching ≈ 10

−7

. Our results highlights vdW materials as a platform for designing unique multilayer optical nanostructures and metamaterial

paving the way for advanced applications in nanophotonics and nonlinear optics.

关键词

Keywords

references

Kuznetsov, A. I. et al. Optically resonant dielectric nanostructures. Science 354 , aag2472 (2016)..

Cambiasso, J. et al. Bridging the gap between dielectric nanophotonics and the visible regime with effectively lossless gallium phosphide antennas. Nano Lett. 17 , 1219–1225 (2017)..

Xu, L. e t al. Forward and backward switching of nonlinear unidirectional emission from GaAs nanoantennas. ACS Nano 14 , 1379–1389 (2020)..

Kuznetsov, A. I. et al. Magnetic light. Sci. Rep. 2 , 492 (2012)..

Liu, W. & Kivshar, Y. S. Multipolar interference effects in nanophotonics. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A 375 , 20160317 (2017)..

Koshelev, K. et al. Nonradiating photonics with resonant dielectric nanostructures. Nanophotonics 8 , 725–745 (2019)..

Miroshnichenko, A. E. et al. Nonradiating anapole modes in dielectric nanoparticles. Nat. Commun. 6 , 8069 (2015)..

Kang, M. et al. Applications of bound states in the continuum in photonics. Nat. Rev. Phys. 5 , 659–678 (2023)..

Carletti, L. et al. Giant nonlinear response at the nanoscale driven by bound states in the continuum. Phys. Rev. Lett. 121 , 033903 (2018)..

Koshelev, K. et al. Subwavelength dielectr ic resonators for nonlinear nanophotonics. Science 367 , 288–292 (2020)..

Meng, Y. et al. Photonic van der Waals integration from 2D materials to 3D nanomembranes. Nat. Rev. Mater. 8 , 498–517 (2023)..

Trovatello, C. et al. Tunable optical nonlinearities in layered materials. ACS Photonics 11 , 2860 (2024)..

Khurgin, J. B. Expanding the photonic palette: exploring high index materials. ACS Photonics 9 , 743–751 (2022)..

Vyshnevyy, A. A. et al. van der Waals materials for overcoming fundamental limitations in photonic integrated circuitry. Nano Lett. 23 , 8057–8064 (2023)..

Novoselov, K. S. et al. 2D materials and van der Waals heterostructures. Science 353 , aac9439 (2016)..

Autere, A. et al. Nonlinear optics with 2D layered materials. Adv. Mater. 30 , 1705963 (2018)..

Mueller, T. & Malic, E. Exciton physics and device application of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors. npj 2D Mater. Appl. 2 , 29 (2018)..

Malard, L. M. et al. Observation of intense second harmonic generation from MoS 2 atomiccrystals. Phys. Rev. B 87 , 201401 (2013)..

Mennel, L. et al. Optical imaging of strain in two-dimensional crystals. Nat. Commun. 9 , 516 (2018)..

Lin, K. Q., Bange, S. & Lupton, J. M. Quantum interference in second-harmonic generation from monolayer WSe 2 . Nat. Phys. 15 , 242–246 (2019)..

Trovatello, C. et al. Optical parametric amplification by monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. Nat. Photonics 15 , 6–10 (2021)..

Klimmer, S. et al. All-optical polarization and amplitude modulation of second-harmonic generation in atomically thin semiconductors. Nat. Photonics 15 , 837–842 (2021)..

Lin, H. et al. Engineering van der Waals materials for advanced metaphotonics. Chem. Rev. 122 , 15204–15355 (2022)..

Munkhbat, B. et al. Nanostructured transition metal dichalcogenide multilayers for advanced nanophotonics. Laser Photonics Rev. 17 , 2200057 (2023)..

Zotev, P. G. et al. Van der Waals materials for applications in nanophotonics. Laser Photonics Rev. 17 , 2200957 (2023)..

Ermolaev, G. A. et al. Giant optical anisotropy in transition metal dichalcogenides for next-generation photonics. Nat. Commun. 12 , 854 (2021)..

Munkhbat, B. et al. Optical constants of several multilayer transition metal dichalcogenides measured by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the 300-1700 nm range: high index, anisotropy, and hyperbolicity. ACS Photonics 9 , 2398–2407 (2022)..

Zotev, P. G. et al. Transition metal dichalcogenide dimer nanoantennas for tailored light-matter interactions. ACS Nano 16 , 6493–6505 (2022)..

Verre, R. et al. Transition metal dichalcogenide nanodisks as high-index dielectric Mie nanoresonators. Nat. Nanotechnol. 14 , 679–683 (2019)..

Zograf, G. et al. Combining ultrahigh index with exceptional nonlinearity in resonant transition metal dichalcogenide nanodisks. Nat. Photonics 18 , 751–757 (2024)..

Munkhbat, B. et al. Transition metal dichalcogenide metamaterials with atomic precision. Nat. Commun. 11 , 4604 (2020)..

Nauman, M. et al. Tunable unidirectional nonlinear emission from transition-metal-dichalcogenide metasurfaces. Nat. Commun. 12 , 5597 (2021)..

Weber, T. et al. Intrinsic strong light-matter coupling with self-hybridized bound states in the continuum in van der Waals metasurfaces. Nat. Mater. 22 , 970–976 (2023)..

Shen, F. H. et al. Transition metal dichalcogenide metaphotonic and self-coupled polaritonic platform grown by chemical vapor deposition. Nat. Commun. 13 , 5597 (2022)..

Ling, H. N. et al. Deeply subwavelength integrated excitonic van der Waals nanophotonics. Optica 10 , 1345 (2023)..

Xu, X. Y. et al. Towards compact phase-matched and waveguided nonlinear optics in atomically layered semiconductors. Nat. Photonics 16 , 698–706 (2022)..

Lee, S. W. et al. Ultra-compact exciton polariton modulator based on van der Waals semiconductors. Nat. Commun. 15 , 2331 (2024)..

Sortino, L. et al. Atomic-layer assembly of ultrathin optical cavities in van der Waals heterostructure metasurfaces. Nat. Photonics. 19 , 825–832 (2025)..

Yao, K. Y. et al. Enhanced tunable second harmonic generation from twistable interfaces and vertical superlattices in boron nitride homostructures. Sci. Adv. 7 , eabe8691 (2021)..

Shen, Y. R. Optical second harmonic generation at interfaces. Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 40 , 327–350 (1989)..

Kim, B. et al. Three-dimensional nonlinear optical materials from twisted two-dimensional van der Waals interfaces. Nat. Photonics 18 , 91–98 (2024)..

Voronin, K. V. et al. Chiral photonic super-crystals based on helical van der Waals homostructures. Laser Photonics Rev. 18 , 2301113 (2024)..

Kruk, S. S. et al. Asymmetric parametric generation of images with nonlinear dielectric metasurfaces. Nat. Photonics 16 , 561–565 (2022)..

Basov, D. N. et al. Polariton panorama. Nanophotonics 10 , 549–577 (2020)..

Xu, L. et al. Boosting third-harmonic generation by a mirror-enhanced anapole resonator. Light Sci. Appl. 7 , 44 (2018)..

Purdie, D. G. et al. Cleaning interfaces in layered materials heterostructures. Nat. Commun. 9 , 5387 (2018)..

Ghirardini, L. et al. Polarization properties of second-harmonic generation in algaas optical nanoantennas. Opt. Lett. 42 , 559–562 (2017)..

Weissflog, M. A. et al. A tunable transition metal dichalcogenide entangled photon-pair source. Nat. Commun. 15 , 7600 (2024)..

Franceschini, P. et al. Nonlocal resonances in pedestal high-index-contrast metasurfaces based on a silicon-on-insulator platform. Appl. Phys. Lett. 123 , 071701 (2023)..

Views

Downloads

CSCD

Alert me when the article has been cited

Submit

Tools

Publicity Resources

No data

Related Author

No data

Related Institution

No data

⁰

Interface second harmonic generation enhancement in bulk WS2/MoS2 hetero-bilayer van der Waals nanoantennas

DOI：10.1038/s41377-025-01983-y

摘要

Abstract

关键词

Keywords

references

Interface second harmonic generation enhancement in bulk WS₂/MoS₂ hetero-bilayer van der Waals nanoantennas