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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Using Microwave and Macroscopic Samples of Dielectric Solids to Study the Photonic Properties of Disordered Photonic Bandgap Materials
Published on: September 26, 2014
Accessing quadratic nonlinearities of metals through metallodielectric photonic-band-gap structures
Giuseppe D'Aguanno1, Nadia Mattiucci, Mark J Bloemer
1Charles M. Bowden Research Center, RDECOM Building 7804, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama 35898-5000, USA. giuseppe.daguanno@us.army.mil
Abstract:
We study second harmonic generation in a metallodielectric photonic-band-gap structure made of alternating layers of silver and a generic, dispersive, linear, dielectric material. We find that under ideal conditions the conversion efficiency can be more than two orders of magnitude greater than the maximum conversion efficiency achievable in a single layer of silver. We interpret this enhancement in terms of the simultaneous availability of phase matching conditions over the structure and good field penetration into the metal layers. We also give a realistic example of a nine-period, Si3/N4Ag stack, where the backward conversion efficiency is enhanced by a factor of 50 compared to a single layer of silver.
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