Tailoring second harmonic emission by ZnO nanostructures: enhancement of directionality

Abstract

Tailoring nonlinear optical properties at the nanoscale is a hot topic in nowadays nanophotonics, promising for applications spanning from sensing to ultrafast optical communications. Here we present a numerical approach of designing a simple semiconductor nanostructure able to tailor second harmonic emission in the near- and far-field. We start from linear simulations of ZnO nanospheres, which reveal multipolar nature of the scattering. Next, we show how the same nanospheres, excited at 800 nm, manipulate the directivity of the emitted second harmonic. We observe that the nanospheres which exhibit Kerker condition at 400 nm, emit the second harmonic field in the forward direction. We further investigate how the asymmetry (ellipsoid geometry) tailors the second harmonic directivity. We finally introduce geometry with low chiro-optical response, and observe that the second harmonic far-field depends on the handedness of the light exciting the nanostructure at 800 nm.