E. Fazio

Screening-photovoltaic bright solitons in lithium niobate and associated single-mode waveguides

Photorefractive screening-photovoltaic solitons are observed in lithium niobate. Two-dimensional bright circular solitons are formed thanks to a strong static bias field, externally applied, opposite to the photovoltaic internal field. The dynamics of the soliton formation is monitored and compared to a time-dependent numerical model allowing determination of the photovoltaic field. Efficient single mode waveguides are shown to be memorized by the soliton beam for a long time.

Tailored second harmonic generation from self-organized metal nano-wires arrays

Here we report the second harmonic emission properties of self-organized gold nanowires arrays supported on dielectric substrates with a sub-wavelength periodic pattern. The peculiar morphology of the nanowires, which are locally tilted with respect to the average plane of the substrate, allows to generate maximum second harmonic signal at normal incidence with a polarization direction driven by the orientation of the wires (perpendicular to the wires). The generation efficiency was increased by tailoring the growth process in order to tune the metal plasmon resonance close to the pump field frequency and also by increasing the local tilt of the nanowires.

Inhibition of Linear Absorption in Opaque Materials Using Phase-Locked Harmonic Generation

We theoretically predict and experimentally demonstrate inhibition of linear absorption for phase and group velocity mismatched second- and third-harmonic generation in strongly absorbing materials, GaAs, in particular, at frequencies above the absorption edge. A 100-fs pump pulse tuned to 1300 nm generates 650 and 435 nm second- and third-harmonic pulses that propagate across a 450-microm-thick GaAs substrate without being absorbed. We attribute this to a phase-locking mechanism that causes the pump to trap the harmonics and to impress on them its dispersive properties.

Large self-deflection of soliton beams in LiNbO~3

We report the observation of large self-deflection of 2-D bright photorefractive solitons in LiNbO3 crystal under a dc applied field. Beam deflection as large as 300 microm after a 7 mm propagation distance is reported, leading to formation of curved 2-D waveguides. We attribute this large deflection to the low level of impurity acceptors present in the samples, as confirmed by numerical results from a time-dependent photorefractive model.

Chiral light intrinsically couples to extrinsic/pseudo-chiral metasurfaces made of tilted gold nanowires

Extrinsic or pseudo-chiral (meta)surfaces have an achiral structure, yet they can give rise to circular dichroism when the experiment itself becomes chiral. Although these surfaces are known to yield differences in reflected and transmitted circularly polarized light, the exact mechanism of the interaction has never been directly demonstrated. Here we present a comprehensive linear and nonlinear optical investigation of a metasurface composed of tilted gold nanowires. In the linear regime, we directly demonstrate the selective absorption of circularly polarised light depending on the orientation of the metasurface. In the nonlinear regime, we demonstrate for the first time how second harmonic generation circular dichroism in such extrinsic/pseudo-chiral materials can be understood in terms of effective nonlinear susceptibility tensor elements that switch sign depending on the orientation of the metasurface. By providing fundamental understanding of the chiroptical interactions in achiral metasurfaces, our work opens up new perspectives for the optimisation of their properties.

Second-harmonic generation from metallodielectric multilayer photonic-band-gap structures

We experimentally and theoretically investigate the second order nonlinear optical response of metallo-dielectric multilayer structures composed of Ag and Ta2O5 layers, deposited by magnetron sputtering. Second harmonic generation measurements were performed in reflection mode as a function of incidence angle, using femtosecond pulses originating from a Ti:Sapphire laser system tuned at 800 nm. The dependence of the generated signal was investigated as a function of pump intensity and polarization state. Our experimental results show that the conversion efficiency from a periodic metallo-dielectric sample may be enhanced by at least a factor of 30 with respect to the conversion efficiency from a single metal layer, thanks in part to the increased number of active surfaces, pump field localization and penetration inside the metal layers. The conversion efficiency maximum shifts from 70 degrees for the single silver layer down to approximately 55 degrees for the stack. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with calculations based on coupled Maxwell-Drude oscillators under the action of a nonlinear Lorentz force term.

Active reflection via a phase-insensitive quadratic nonlinear interaction within a microcavity

The reflectivity of a microcavity filled with a quadratic nonlinear material is shown to be actively changed by the interaction of two waves. Within this microcavity, the reflection coefficient of a weak wave at the fundamental frequency is changed from almost 0% to a value in the vicinity of 100% by the simultaneous incidence of an intense wave at the second-harmonic frequency. This change in reflectivity is shown to be in a large degree insensitive to the input phase difference between the two waves.

Complete spatial and temporal locking in phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation

We experimentally demonstrate simultaneous phase and group velocity locking of fundamental and generated second harmonic pulses in Lithium Niobate, under conditions of material phase mismatch. In phase-mismatched, pulsed second harmonic generation in addition to a reflected signal two forward-propagating pulses are also generated at the interface between a linear and a second order nonlinear material: the first pulse results from the solution of the homogeneous wave equation, and propagates at the group velocity expected from material dispersion; the second pulse is the solution of the inhomogeneous wave equation, is phase-locked and trapped by the pump pulse, and follows the pump trajectory. At normal incidence, the normal and phase locked pulses simply trail each other. At oblique incidence, the consequences can be quite dramatic. The homogeneous pulse refracts as predicted by material dispersion and Snells law, yielding at least two spatially separate second harmonic spots at the mediums exit. We thus report the first experimental results showing that, at oblique incidence, fundamental and phase-locked second harmonic pulses travel with the same group velocity and follow the same trajectory. This is direct evidence that, at least up to first order, the effective dispersion of the phase-locked pulse is similar to the dispersion of the pump pulse.

Luminescence-induced photorefractive spatial solitons

We report the observation of spatial confinement of a pump beam into a photorefractive solitonic channel induced by luminescence [luminescence induced spatial soliton (LISS)]. Trapped beams have been obtained in erbium doped lithium niobate crystals at concentrations as high as 0.7 mol % of erbium. By pumping at 980 nm, erbium ions emit photons at 550 nm by two-step absorption, wavelength which can be absorbed by lithium niobate and originates the photorefractive effect. The luminescence at 550 nm generates at the same time the solitonic channel and the background illumination reaching a steady-state soliton regime.

Field Dependent Effects in a Quadratic Nonlinear Medium

Field-dependent phase shift and conversion efficiency of parametric processes in quadratic lossless nonlinear media are studied as a function of phase mismatch and of input field amplitude.