Davide Rocco

Monolithic AlGaAs second-harmonic nanoantennas.

We demonstrate monolithic aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) optical nanoantennas. Using a selective oxidation technique, we fabricated epitaxial semiconductor nanocylinders on an aluminum oxide substrate. Second harmonic generation from AlGaAs nanocylinders of 400 nm height and varying radius pumped with femtosecond pulses delivered at 1554-nm wavelength has been measured, revealing a peak conversion efficiency exceeding 10-5 for nanocylinders with an optimized geometry.

Controlling second-harmonic generation at the nanoscale with monolithic AlGaAs-on-AlOx antennas

We review recent achievements in the field of nanoscale nonlinear AlGaAs photonics based on all-dielectric optical antennas. After discussing the motivation and main technological challenges for the development of an AlGaAs monolithic platform for χ (2) nonlinear nanophotonics, we present numerical and experimental investigations of the second-order nonlinear response and physical reasons for high efficiency of second-order nonlinear interactions in the AlGaAs nano-antennas. In particular, we emphasize the role of the dipolar resonances at the fundamental frequency and the multipolar resonances at the second harmonic wavelength. We also discuss second-harmonic generation directionality and show possible strategies to engineer the radiation pattern of nonlinear antennas.

Polarization properties of second-harmonic generation in AlGaAs optical nanoantennas

Manipulating light at the nanoscale by means of dielectric nanoantennas recently received renewed attention thanks to the development of key enabling fabrication tools in semiconductor technology, combined with the extremely low losses exhibited by dielectrics in the optical regime. Nanostructures based on III-V type semiconductors, characterized by an intrinsic broken symmetry down to a single elementary cell, has already demonstrated remarkable nonlinear conversion efficiencies at scales well below the operating wavelength. In this Letter, we thoroughly investigate the emission properties of second-harmonic generation (SHG) in AlGaAs monolithic nanoantennas. Our findings point toward the pivotal role of volume susceptibility in SHG, further unraveling the physics behind the nonlinear processes in these systems. The extremely high SHG efficiency attained, together with the control over the polarized emission in these nanoantennas, constitute key ingredients for the development of tunable nonlinear metasurfaces.

Enhanced second-harmonic generation from magnetic resonance in AlGaAs nanoantennas

We designed cylindrical AlGaAs-on-aluminium-oxide all-dielectric nanoantennas with magnetic dipole resonance at near-infrared wavelengths. Our choice of material system offers a few crucial advantages with respect to the silicon-oninsulator platform for operation around 1.55μm wavelength: absence of two-photon absorption, high χ(2) nonlinearity, and the perspective of a monolithic integration with a laser. We analyzed volume second-harmonic generation associated to a magnetic dipole resonance in these nanoantennas, and we predict a conversion efficiency exceeding 10-3 with 1GW/cm2 of pump intensity.

Shaping the nonlinear emission pattern of a dielectric nanoantenna by integrated holographic gratings

We demonstrate the shaping of the second-harmonic (SH) radiation pattern from a single AlGaAs nanodisk antenna using coplanar holographic gratings. The SH radiation emitted from the antenna toward the-otherwise forbidden-normal direction can be effectively redirected by suitably shifting the phase of the grating pattern in the azimuthal direction. The use of such gratings allows increasing the SH power collection efficiency by 2 orders of magnitude with respect to an isolated antenna and demonstrates the possibility of intensity-tailoring for an arbitrary collection angle. Such reconstruction of the nonlinear emission from nanoscale antennas represents the first step toward the application of all-dielectric nanostructures for nonlinear holography.

Metal–dielectric hybrid nanoantennas for efficient frequency conversion at the anapole mode

Background: Dielectric nanoantennas have recently emerged as an alternative solution to plasmonics for nonlinear light manipulation at the nanoscale, thanks to the magnetic and electric resonances, the strong nonlinearities, and the low ohmic losses characterizing high refractive-index materials in the visible/near-infrared (NIR) region of the spectrum. In this frame, AlGaAs nanoantennas demonstrated to be extremely efficient sources of second harmonic radiation. In particular, the nonlinear polarization of an optical system pumped at the anapole mode can be potentially boosted, due to both the strong dip in the scattering spectrum and the near-field enhancement, which are characteristic of this mode. Plasmonic nanostructures, on the other hand, remain the most promising solution to achieve strong local field confinement, especially in the NIR, where metals such as gold display relatively low losses. Results: We present a nonlinear hybrid antenna based on an AlGaAs nanopillar surrounded by a gold ring, which merges in a single platform the strong field confinement typically produced by plasmonic antennas with the high nonlinearity and low loss characteristics of dielectric nanoantennas. This platform allows enhancing the coupling of light to the nanopillar at coincidence with the anapole mode, hence boosting both second- and third-harmonic generation conversion efficiencies. More than one order of magnitude enhancement factors are measured for both processes with respect to the isolated structure. Conclusion: The present results reveal the possibility to achieve tuneable metamixers and higher resolution in nonlinear sensing and spectroscopy, by means of improved both pump coupling and emission efficiency due to the excitation of the anapole mode enhanced by the plasmonic nanoantenna.

Second harmonic generation in AlGaAs nanoantennas

We demonstrate monolithic aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs) optical nanoantennas for enhanced second harmonic generation (SHG) at telecom wavelengths. From measurements on nanocylinders of 400 nm height and varying radius pumped with femtosecond pulses delivered at 1554-nm wavelength, we estimated a peak conversion efficiency exceeding 10−5. Our measurements are in excellent agreement with frequency-domain numerical simulations, revealing the microscopic nature of the SHG process in our nanoresonators.

Role of the substrate in monolithic AlGaAs nonlinear nanoantennas

Abstract We report the effect of the aluminum oxide substrate on the emission of monolithic AlGaAs-on-insulator nonlinear nanoantennas. By coupling nonlinear optical measurements with electron diffraction and microscopy observations, we find that the oxidation-induced stress causes negligible crystal deformation in the AlGaAs nanostructures and only plays a minor role in the polarization state of the harmonic field. This result highlights the reliability of the wet oxidation of thick AlGaAs optical substrates and further confirms the bulk χ(2) origin of second harmonic generation at 1.55 μm in these nanoantennas, paving the way for the development of AlGaAs-on-insulator monolithic metasurfaces.

Controlling the directivity of all-dielectric nanoantennas excited by integrated quantum emitters

We study the scattering properties of individual Al0.18Ga0.82As nanocylinders, which support simultaneously electric and magnetic dipole resonances, excited by an integrated point dipole emitter. We show that by controlling the emitter position in the nanocylinder, it is possible to enhance directivity and the decay rate. Our findings reveal remarkable details of the emitter/antenna coupling mechanisms, opening the way to new design strategies for integrated systems used in nanosensing, quantum optics, and metamaterials.

Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

We designed cylindrical AlGaAs-on-aluminium-oxide all-dielectric nanoantennas with magnetic dipole resonance at near-infrared wavelengths. Our choice of material system offers a few crucial advantages with respect to the silicon-oninsulator platform for operation around 1.55μm wavelength: absence of two-photon absorption, high χ(2) nonlinearity, and the perspective of a monolithic integration with a laser. We analyzed volume second-harmonic generation associated to a magnetic dipole resonance in these nanoantennas, and we predict a conversion efficiency exceeding 10-3 with 1GW/cm2 of pump intensity.