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Di Francescantonio A, Zilli A, Rocco D, Coudrat L, Conti F, Biagioni P, Duò L, Lemaître A, De Angelis C, Leo G, Finazzi M, Celebrano M. All-optical free-space routing of upconverted light by metasurfaces via nonlinear interferometry. NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY 2024; 19:298-305. [PMID: 38052942 DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01549-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
All-optical modulation yields the promise of high-speed information processing. In this field, metasurfaces are rapidly gaining traction as ultrathin multifunctional platforms for light management. Among the featured functionalities, they enable light-wavefront manipulation and more recently demonstrated the ability to perform light-by-light manipulation through nonlinear optical processes. Here, by employing a nonlinear periodic metasurface, we demonstrate the all-optical routing of telecom photons upconverted to the visible range. This is achieved via the interference between two frequency-degenerate upconversion processes, namely, third-harmonic and sum-frequency generation, stemming from the interaction of a pump pulse with its frequency-doubled replica. By tuning the relative phase and polarization between these two pump beams, we route the upconverted signal among the diffraction orders of the metasurface with a modulation efficiency of up to 90%. This can be achieved by concurrently engineering the nonlinear emission of the individual elements (meta-atoms) of the metasurface along with its pitch. Owing to the phase control and ultrafast dynamics of the underlying nonlinear processes, free-space all-optical routing could be potentially performed at rates close to the employed optical frequencies divided by the quality factor of the optical resonances at play. Our approach adds a further twist to optical interferometry, which is a key enabling technique employed in a wide range of applications, such as homodyne detection, radar interferometry, light detection and ranging technology, gravitational-wave detection and molecular photometry. In particular, the nonlinear character of light upconversion combined with phase sensitivity is extremely appealing for enhanced imaging and biosensing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Attilio Zilli
- Physics Department, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Davide Rocco
- Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
| | - Laure Coudrat
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques, Paris, France
| | | | | | - Lamberto Duò
- Physics Department, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Aristide Lemaître
- Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Palaiseau, France
| | | | - Giuseppe Leo
- Université de Paris, CNRS, Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques, Paris, France
| | - Marco Finazzi
- Physics Department, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.
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