Publication Date:
2013-12-07
Description:
Phase matching is a critical requirement for coherent nonlinear optical processes such as frequency conversion and parametric amplification. Phase mismatch prevents microscopic nonlinear sources from combining constructively, resulting in destructive interference and thus very low efficiency. We report the experimental demonstration of phase mismatch-free nonlinear generation in a zero-index optical metamaterial. In contrast to phase mismatch compensation techniques required in conventional nonlinear media, the zero index eliminates the need for phase matching, allowing efficient nonlinear generation in both forward and backward directions. We demonstrate phase mismatch-free nonlinear generation using intrapulse four-wave mixing, where we observed a forward-to-backward nonlinear emission ratio close to unity. The removal of phase matching in nonlinear optical metamaterials may lead to applications such as multidirectional frequency conversion and entangled photon generation.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Suchowski, Haim -- O'Brien, Kevin -- Wong, Zi Jing -- Salandrino, Alessandro -- Yin, Xiaobo -- Zhang, Xiang -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2013 Dec 6;342(6163):1223-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1244303.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24311687" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
