Second harmonic generation from grating-coupled hybrid plasmon–phonon polaritons

Abstract

Polaritons can provide strong optical field enhancement allowing them to boost light–matter interaction. Here, we experimentally observe enhancement in mid-infrared second-harmonic generation (SHG) using grating-coupled surface phonon polaritons of the 6H-SiC surface. In our experiment, we measure the SHG along the polariton dispersion by changing the incidence angle of the excitation beam. We observe hybridization between the propagating surface phonon polaritons and localized plasmon resonances in the gold grating, evidenced by the modification of the polariton dispersion as we change the area ratio of grating and substrate. Design options for engineering the plasmon–phonon polariton hybridization are discussed. Overall, we find a rather low yield of polariton-enhanced SHG in this geometry compared to prism-coupling and nanostructures and discuss possible origins.