Twisted nonlinear optics in monolayer van der Waals crystals
Abstract
In addition to a plethora of emergent phenomena, the spatial topology of optical vortices enables an array of applications spanning communications to quantum photonics. Nonlinear optics is essential in this context, providing access to an infinitely large set of quantum states associated with the orbital angular momentum of light. Nevertheless, the realization of such processes have failed to keep pace with the ever-growing need to shrink the fundamental length-scale of photonic technologies to the nanometer regime6. Here, we push the boundaries of vortex nonlinear optics to the ultimate limits of material dimensionality. By exploiting second and third-order frequency-mixing processes in semiconducting monolayers, we demonstrate the independent manipulation of the wavelength, orbital angular momentum, and spatial distribution of vortex light-fields. Due to the atomically-thin nature of the host quantum material, this control spans a broad spectral bandwidth in a highly-integrable platform, unconstrained by the traditional limits of bulk nonlinear optical materials. Our work heralds a new avenue for ultra-compact and scalable hybrid nanotechnologies empowered by twisted nonlinear light-matter interactions in van der Waals quantum nanomaterials.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2404.14306,
title = {Twisted nonlinear optics in monolayer van der Waals crystals},
author = {Tenzin Norden and Luis M. Martinez and Nehan Tarefder and Kevin W. C. Kwock and Luke M. McClintock and Nicholas Olsen and Luke N. Holtzman and Xiaoyang Zhu and James C. Hone and Jinkyoung Yoo and Jian-Xin Zhu and P. James Schuck and Antoinette J. Taylor and Rohit P. Prasankumar and Wilton J. M. Kort-Kamp and Prashant Padmanabhan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.14306},
year = {2026}
}