Chapter 6
Second-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties
of Plasmonic Nanostructures
Martti Kauranen, Hannu Husu, Jouni Mäkitalo, Robert Czaplicki, Mariusz
Zdanowicz, Joonas Lehtolahti, Janne Laukkanen and Markku Kuittinen
Abstract We review our work on second-order nonlinear optical properties
of plasmonic nanostructures. In order to achieve the required non-centrosymmetry
of the structures, our samples consist of arrays of L-shaped nanoparticles and
T-shaped nanodimers. The samples are investigated by polarization-dependent
second-harmonic generation to address the tensorial nonlinear response. We show
that the response can be strongly modified by symmetry-breaking defects and other
deviations of the samples from ideal. Nonlinear sources localized to defects can
also give rise to higher-multipolar emission. The defect problem is overcome with
a recent and significant improvement in sample quality, allowing the dipole limit
of the nonlinear response to be reached. This achievement opens the path towards
plasmonic metamaterials with tailorable nonlinear properties. As a demonstration of
this possibility, we modify the nonlinear response by the mutual arrangement of the
L-shaped particles in the array. We will also summarize our numerical boundaryelement method to describe the nonlinear response of nanoparticles.
Keywords Surface plasmon · Nonlinear optics · Second harmonic generation
M. Kauranen (B) · H. Husu · J. Mäkitalo · R. Czaplicki · M. Zdanowicz
Department of Physics, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 692,
33101 Tampere, Finland
e-mail: martti.kauranen@tut.fi
H. Husu
Centre for Metrology and Accreditation (MIKES), P.O. Box 9, 02151 Espoo, Finland
M. Zdanowicz
National Institute of Telecommunications, Szachowa 1, 04894 Warsaw, Poland
J. Lehtolahti · J. Laukkanen · M. Kuittinen
Department of Physics and Mathematics, University of Eastern Finland, 80101 Joensuu, Finland
T. V. Shahbazyan and M. I. Stockman (eds.), Plasmonics: Theory and Applications,
207
Challenges and Advances in Computational Chemistry and Physics 15,
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-7805-4_6, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Second-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties
of Plasmonic Nanostructures
Martti Kauranen, Hannu Husu, Jouni Mäkitalo, Robert Czaplicki, Mariusz
Zdanowicz, Joonas Lehtolahti, Janne Laukkanen and Markku Kuittinen
Abstract We review our work on second-order nonlinear optical properties
of plasmonic nanostructures. In order to achieve the required non-centrosymmetry
of the structures, our samples consist of arrays of L-shaped nanoparticles and
T-shaped nanodimers. The samples are investigated by polarization-dependent
second-harmonic generation to address the tensorial nonlinear response. We show
that the response can be strongly modified by symmetry-breaking defects and other
deviations of the samples from ideal. Nonlinear sources localized to defects can
also give rise to higher-multipolar emission. The defect problem is overcome with
a recent and significant improvement in sample quality, allowing the dipole limit
of the nonlinear response to be reached. This achievement opens the path towards
plasmonic metamaterials with tailorable nonlinear properties. As a demonstration of
this possibility, we modify the nonlinear response by the mutual arrangement of the
L-shaped particles in the array. We will also summarize our numerical boundaryelement method to describe the nonlinear response of nanoparticles.
Keywords Surface plasmon · Nonlinear optics · Second harmonic generation
M. Kauranen (B) · H. Husu · J. Mäkitalo · R. Czaplicki · M. Zdanowicz
Department of Physics, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 692,
33101 Tampere, Finland
e-mail: martti.kauranen@tut.fi
H. Husu
Centre for Metrology and Accreditation (MIKES), P.O. Box 9, 02151 Espoo, Finland
M. Zdanowicz
National Institute of Telecommunications, Szachowa 1, 04894 Warsaw, Poland
J. Lehtolahti · J. Laukkanen · M. Kuittinen
Department of Physics and Mathematics, University of Eastern Finland, 80101 Joensuu, Finland
T. V. Shahbazyan and M. I. Stockman (eds.), Plasmonics: Theory and Applications,
207
Challenges and Advances in Computational Chemistry and Physics 15,
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-7805-4_6, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013