Highly efficient second-harmonic generation from indefinite epsilon-near-zero slabs of subwavelength thickness

Abstract

We theoretically predict efficient optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) from a few hundred nanometer thick slab consisting of a quadratic nonlinear anisotropic medium whose linear principal permittivities are, at the fundamental wavelength, very small and have different signs (indefinite medium). We show that, by illuminating the slab with a p-polarized fundamental wave (with intensity of a few MW/cm^2), a highly efficient scattering of the second-harmonic field occurs when the conditions of linear complete slab transparency for the fundamental wave are met. The high efficiency of the SHG process, stems from the large non-plasmonic enhancement of the longitudinal field, perpendicular to the slab surface, produced by the very small value of the slab dielectric permittivities. A suitable nano-structured composite is proposed and numerically designed for observing the novel non-phase-matched and highly efficient SHG process from nano-structures.