Enhanced nonlinear refractive index in ε-near-zero materials
Abstract
New propagation regimes for light arise from the ability to tune the dielectric permittivity to extremely low values. Here, we demonstrate a universal approach based on the low linear permittivity values attained in the ε-near-zero (ENZ) regime for enhancing the nonlinear refractive index, which enables remarkable light-induced changes of the material properties. Experiments performed on Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films show a sixfold increase of the Kerr nonlinear refractive index (n2) at the ENZ wavelength, located in the 1300 nm region. This in turn leads to ultrafast light-induced refractive index changes of the order of unity, thus representing a new paradigm for nonlinear optics.
Citation
Caspani , L , Kaipurath , R P M , Clerici , M , Ferrera , M , Roger , T , Kim , J , Kinsey , N , Pietrzyk , M , Di Falco , A , Shalaev , V M , Boltasseva , A & Faccio , D 2016 , ' Enhanced nonlinear refractive index in ε -near-zero materials ' , Physical Review Letters , vol. 116 , no. 23 , 233901 . https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.233901
Publication
Physical Review Letters
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0031-9007Type
Journal item
Rights
© 2016 American Physical Society. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.233901
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