Simplified bond-hyperpolarizability model of second-harmonic-generation in Si(111): theory and experiment

Abstract

Second-harmonic-generation (SHG) in centrosymmetric material such as Si(111) is usually understood either from the phenomenology theory or more recently using the simplified bond-hyperpolarizability model (SBHM) [G. D. Powell, J. F. Wang, and D. E. Aspnes, Phys. Rev. B 65, 205320/1 (2002)]. Although SBHM is derived from a classical point of view, it has the advantage over the former that it gives especially for lower symmetry systems a clear physical picture and a more efficient explanation of how nonlinearity is generated. In this paper we provide a step-by-step description of the SBHM in Si(111) for the linear and second harmonic case. We present a SHG experiment of Si(111) and show how it can be modelled by summing up the contribution of the fields produced by the anharmonic motion of the charges along the bonds.