A research team at the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin has created a new nonlinear metasurface, or meta mirror, that may help advance the miniaturization of laser systems for biomedical research and other applications.

The metamaterials, called a “nonlinear mirror” by the researchers, were created with nonlinear optical response a million times as strong as traditional nonlinear materials and demonstrated frequency conversion in films 100 times as thin as human hair using light intensity comparable with that of a laser pointer.

Nonlinear optical effects are widely used by engineers and scientists to generate new light frequencies, perform laser diagnostics, and advance quantum computing. Due to the small extent of optical nonlinearity in naturally occurring materials, high light intensities and long propagation distances in nonlinear crystals are typically required to produce detectable nonlinear optical effects.

The researchers demonstrated its functionality by realizing a 400-nanometer-thick nonlinear mirror that reflects radiation at twice the input light frequency. For the given input intensity and structure thickness, the new nonlinear metamaterial produces approximately 1 million times larger frequency-doubled output, compared with similar structures based on conventional materials.

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