Giant Enhancement of Continuous Wave Second Harmonic Generation from Few-Layer GaSe Coupled to High-Q Quasi Bound States in the Continuum

Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials such as GaSe recently have emerged as novel nonlinear optical materials with exceptional properties. Although exhibiting large nonlinear susceptibilities, the nonlinear responses of 2D materials are generally limited by the short interaction lengths with light, thus further enhancement via resonant photonic nanostructures is highly desired for building high-efficiency nonlinear devices. Here, we demonstrate a giant second-harmonic generation (SHG) enhancement by coupling 2D GaSe flakes to silicon metasurfaces supporting quasi-bound states in the continuum (quasi-BICs) under continuous-wave (CW) operation. Taking advantage of both high-quality factors and large mode areas of quasi-BICs, SHG from a GaSe flake is uniformly enhanced by nearly 4 orders of magnitude, which is promising for high-power coherent light sources. Our work provides an effective approach for enhancing nonlinear optical processes in 2D materials within the framework of silicon photonics, which also brings second-order nonlinearity associated with 2D materials to silicon photonic devices.

Automated summary

Two-dimensional layered materials like GaSe have shown promise as novel nonlinear optical materials, but their nonlinear responses are limited by short interaction lengths with light. By coupling 2D GaSe flakes to silicon metasurfaces, a significant enhancement of second-harmonic generation (SHG) has been achieved, opening up new possibilities for high-power coherent light sources.