4H‐SiC: a new nonlinear material for midinfrared lasers

Wang, Shunchong; Zhan, Minjie; Wang, Gang; Xuan, Hongwen; Zhang, Wei; Liu, Chunjun; Xu, Chunhua; Liu, Yu; Wei, Zhiyi; Chen, Xiaolong

doi:10.1002/lpor.201300068

Cited by 132 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…So far, this outstanding material has received little attention in experimental works that are limited to the demonstration of nonlinear properties in the near infrared [17], mid-infrared DFG above the optical phonon frequencies [18], and emission of 1 THz radiation from 6H-SiC [19].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Recently, preliminary investigations by Naftaly et al [16] suggested 4H-SiC as a crystal suitable for nonlinear optics in the multi-terahertz range. So far, this outstanding material has received little attention in experimental works that are limited to the demonstration of nonlinear properties in the near infrared [17], mid-infrared DFG above the optical phonon frequencies [18], and emission of 1 THz radiation from 6H-SiC [19].…”

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Coherent Field Transients below 15 THz from Phase-Matched Difference Frequency Generation in 4H-SiC

Fischer

Bühler

Kurihara

et al. 2017

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics

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We experimentally demonstrate tunable, phase-matched difference frequency generation covering the spectral region below 15 THz using 4H-SiC as a nonlinear crystal. This material combines a non-centrosymmetric lattice and strong birefringence with broadband transparency at low optical frequencies. Thorough refractive index measurements in the terahertz spectral range allow us to calculate phase-matching conditions for any near-infrared pump laser source. 4H-SiC is also exploited as a detector crystal for electro-optic sampling. The results allow us to estimate the effective second-order nonlinear coefficient. The generation of coherent radiation in the spectral region between 5 and 15 THz is a major challenge for solid-state sources, despite its relevant interest for the study of fundamental excitations in condensed matter systems. In fact, the corresponding energy range from 20 to 60 meV includes various molecular vibrations [1][2][3], as well as optical phonons in solids [4,5] and low-energy collective modes in correlated materials such as superconductors [6]. Quantum cascade lasers [7] provide a continuous wave source tunable in this spectral window. Pulses can also be produced by photoconductive switches [8,9] or via laser-induced air plasma generation [10][11][12]. However, to obtain stable and intense electric fields combined with femtosecond temporal resolution, the workhorse approach relies on the generation of coherent field transients by frequency mixing processes in nonlinear crystals [13,14]. A typical setup is based on difference frequency generation (DFG) driven by an ultrafast laser system. Unfortunately, in the elusive spectral region between 5 and 15 THz, most nonlinear crystals applied for DFG such as GaSe, AgGaS 2 (AGS), and BBO, exhibit strong optical phonon resonances that lead to reststrahlen bands where radiation cannot penetrate into the material [see Fig. 1(a)]. In addition, isotropic materials such as ZnTe are lacking birefringence and, therefore, do not allow adjustment of phase matching. Furthermore, organic nonlinear crystals [15] show heavily structured spectra in the frequency range of interest and display inherently low damage thresholds. Recently, preliminary investigations by Naftaly et al.[16] suggested 4H-SiC as a crystal suitable for nonlinear optics in the multi-terahertz range. So far, this outstanding material has received little attention in experimental works that are limited to the demonstration of nonlinear properties in the near infrared [17], mid-infrared DFG above the optical phonon frequencies [18], and emission of 1 THz radiation from 6H-SiC [19].In this Letter, we experimentally demonstrate the application of 4H-SiC for the generation of ultrashort field transients tunable between 5 and 15 THz, and its use as an electro-optic sampling (EOS) crystal.SiC exhibits a large plurality of polymorphs with hexagonal, cubic, and rhombohedral symmetry [20]. Owing to its technological relevance, high-quality synthetic crystals of 4H-SiC are available. Its lattice, sketched in...

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Coherent Field Transients below 15 THz from Phase-Matched Difference Frequency Generation in 4H-SiC

Fischer

Bühler

Kurihara

et al. 2017

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics

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“…Images reproduced from [23,24,29] with Copyright permission 2014-2015, AIP Publishing LLC characterised by three independent components of the second-order nonlinear optical tensor, recently measured accurately as d 31 = d 32 = 6.7(6.5)pm/V, d 15 = d 24 = 6.5(6.7)pm/V and d 33 = −12.5(−11.7)pm/V in 6H (4H). The refractive indices and the birefringence are used to determine if phase matching can be realised; they have been remeasured from the visible to the mid-infrared region, and Sellmeier equations for ordinary and extraordinary refractive index in 4H and 6H have been provided [76]. This has led to mid-infrared region laser output tunable from 3.90 to 5.60 µm by phase-matched difference frequency generation in 4H-SiC.…”

Section: Nonlinear Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon Carbide for Novel Quantum Technology Devices

Castelletto¹,

Rosa²,

Johnson³

2015

Advanced Silicon Carbide Devices and Processing

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Silicon carbide (SiC) has recently been investigated as an alternative material to host deep optically active defects suitable for optical and spin quantum bits. This material presents a unique opportunity to realise more advanced quantum-based devices and sensors than currently possible. We will summarise key results revealing the role that defects have played in enabling optical and spin quantum measurements in this material such as single photon emission and optical spin control. The great advantage of SiC lies in its existing and well-developed device processing protocols and the possibilities to integrate these defects in a straightforward manner. There is particular current interest in nanomaterials and nanophotonics in SiC that could, once realised, introduce a new platform for quantum nanophotonics and in general for photonics. We will summarise SiC nanostructures exhibiting optical emission due to multiple polytypic bandgap engineering and deep defects. The combination of nanostructures and in-built paramagnetic defects in SiC could pave the way for future single-particle and single-defect quantum devices and related biomedical sensors with single-molecule sensitivity. We will review relevant classical devices in SiC (photonics crystal cavities, microdiscs) integrated with intrinsic defects. Finally, we will provide an outlook on future sensors that could arise from the integration of paramagnetic defects in SiC nanostructures and devices.Keywords: Silicon carbide deep defects, Paramagnetic properties, Optical-detected magnetic resonance, Single-photon sources IntroductionThe most common and technologically advanced SiC polytypes are 4H-SiC and 6H-SiC with hexagonal structures and 3C-SiC with a zinc-blende crystal structure (cubic). High-quality © 2015 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.bulk single-crystal 3C-SiC can be grown epitaxially on different substrates, most notably on silicon. This has led to many exciting devices fabricated with this particular polytype [1]. SiC has a wide bandgap (2.4-3.2 eV depending on the polytype), a high thermal conductivity, the ability to sustain high electric fields before breakdown and the highest maximum current density, making it ideal for high-power electronics [2]. More recently, it has become a notable material in the field of quantum computing and spintronics as several of its intrinsic defects are associated with an electron spin that can be used as quantum bit [3,4]. To enhance solid-state quantum systems scalability, a fully integrated device with quantum control should be built; thus, quantum systems should be part of the material used to fabricate the final device. Other solid-state quantum systems fully integrated into a functional device [5][6][7] operate at cryogenic temperatures (4 K or below),...

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“…1(d)] is obtained and it exhibits high transmittance below 4 μm. In fact, as one of our previous works, femtosecond MIR pulses generated by difference frequency generation (DFG) process using 4H-SiC has been reported [29].…”

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confidence: 97%

“…First, it possesses orders of magnitude higher damage threshold (80 GW∕cm 2 ) [28] than traditional MIR nonlinear crystals partly because of its strong C-Si covalent bond. Second, based on the Sellmeier equations of 4H-SiC crystal [29], type II phase matching condition can be satisfied [ Fig. 1(a)].…”

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confidence: 99%

Generation of broadband 17-μJ mid-infrared femtosecond pulses at 375 μm by silicon carbide crystal

Fan¹,

Xu²,

Wang³

et al. 2014

Opt. Lett.

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In this contribution, we report the generation of 17-μJ mid-infrared (MIR) pulses with duration of 70 fs and bandwidth of 550 nm centered at 3.75 μm at 1-kHz repetition rate, by a two-stage femtosecond optical parametric amplifier utilizing 4H-silicon carbide crystal as the nonlinear medium. The crystal is selected as it processes orders of magnitude higher damage threshold than traditional MIR nonlinear crystals, and it supports extreme broad parametric bandwidth. With its distinguished features such as MIR central wavelength, ultra-broad bandwidth, self-stable carrier-envelope phase, and potential for energy scaling, this kind of MIR source holds promise for new approaches to extreme short isolated attosecond pulse generation as well as MIR spectroscopy applications. Mid-infrared (MIR) light sources in the molecular "fingerprint" region are of paticular importance in a number of disciplines, including industrial process monitoring, environmental monitoring, and molecular identification [1]. Driven by intense carrier-envelope phase-stable MIR pulses, high-order harmonic generation process exhibits higher cut-off energy, supporting shorter isolated attosecond pulses [2]. Broadband MIR light sources are also essential in optical coherence tomography [3,4], since broad spectrum leads to ultrahigh resolution and longer wavelength results in better penetration depth. As MIR light sources have widespread applications, several approaches are made to obtain laser radiations at this wavelength region. Lead-salt diodes exhibit two orders of magnitude lower Auger recombination rate compared with other materials, but they are hindered in applications by a low working temperature requirement, especially for continuous wave operation [5,6]. Unlike lead-salt lasers, the main nonradiative channel for quantum cascade lasers [7,8] is optical phonon emission rather than the Auger effect. That offers opportunities for room temperature operation. However, quantum cascade lasers suffer from their low wall plug efficiency, which sets limitation to applications such as portable sensors and infrared counter measurements [9]. Additionally, generation of lasers with wavelength longer than 3 μm based on solid-state lasers is limited by the multiphonon relaxation process in gain media at room temperature [10].Different from the laser radiation obtained by stimulated emission process mentioned above, nonlinear frequency conversion techniques as the third-generation femtosecond technology [11] have been developed to acquire MIR pulses. By utilizing virtual energy levels for amplification, they are free of cooling systems as no energy accumulates inside the gain media. Among these techniques, optical parametric amplification (OPA) [12][13][14][15][16][17][18], owing to its distinguished advantages including ultra-broad parametric bandwidth and ultrahigh gain per pass, has become an ideal way to generate MIR pulses, compared with other nonlinear processes [19][20][21][22][23][24][25].A series of nonlinear crystals are employed to serve in thes...

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4H‐SiC: a new nonlinear material for midinfrared lasers

Cited by 132 publications

References 36 publications

Coherent Field Transients below 15 THz from Phase-Matched Difference Frequency Generation in 4H-SiC

Coherent Field Transients below 15 THz from Phase-Matched Difference Frequency Generation in 4H-SiC

Silicon Carbide for Novel Quantum Technology Devices

Generation of broadband 17-μJ mid-infrared femtosecond pulses at 375 μm by silicon carbide crystal

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