Few-atom-thick silver films for enhanced nanoscale nonlinear optics
- Author(s)
- Philipp K. Jenke, Saad Abdullah, Andrew P. Weber, Álvaro Rodríguez Echarri, Fadil Iyikanat, Vahagn Mkhitaryan, Frederik Schiller, J. Enrique Ortega, Philip Walther, F. Javier García de Abajo, Lee A. Rozema
- Abstract
The inherently weak nonlinear optical response of bulk materials remains a fundamental limitation in advancing photonic technologies. Nanophotonics addresses this challenge by tailoring the size and morphology of nanostructures to manipulate the optical near field, thus modulating the nonlinear response. Here, we explore a complementary strategy based on engineering the electronic band structure in the mesoscopic regime to enhance optical nonlinearities. Specifically, we demonstrate an increase in second-harmonic generation (SHG) from crystalline silver films as their thickness is reduced down to just a few atomic monolayers. Operating at the boundary between bulk and two-dimensional systems, these ultra-thin films exhibit a pronounced enhancement of SHG with decreasing thickness. This enhancement stems from quantum confinement effects that modify the interaction between electronic states and incident light, which we explain based on quantum-mechanical calculation. Our atomically-thin crystalline silver films provide a new means to overcome the small interaction volumes inherent to nanophotonic platforms, enabling efficient nanoscale nonlinear optics with potential applications in photonics, sensing, and quantum technologies.
- Organisation(s)
- Research Network Quantum Aspects of Space Time, Quantum Science
- External organisation(s)
- Barcelona Institute of Science & Technology, Max-Born-Institut im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V., FOM Institute AMOLF, Centro de Física de Materiales (CSIC-UPV/EHU), Donostia International Physics Center, University of the Basque Country, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA)
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Volume
- 17
- No. of pages
- 9
- ISSN
- 2041-1723
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.15417
- Publication date
- 07-2026
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103021 Optics
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry, General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology, General, General Physics and Astronomy
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/6c15f878-89dc-4cd5-995f-93eeb429492f