Objective Nonlinear optics is present in our daily life with applications, e.g. light sources for microsurgery or green laser pointer. All of them use bulk materials such as glass fibers or crystals. Generating nonlinear effects from materials at the nanoscale would expand the applications to biology as imaging markers or optoelectronic integrated devices. However, nonlinear signals scale with the volume of a material. Therefore finding materials with high nonlinearities to avoid using high power and large interaction length is challenging. Many studies focus on third order nonlinearities (described by a χ(3) tensor) present in every material (silicon, graphene…) or on metals for enhancing nonlinearities with plasmonics. My approach is to explore second-order χ(2) nanomaterials, since they show higher nonlinearities than χ(3) ones, additional properties such as birefringence, wide band gap for transparency, high refractive index (n>2), and no ohmic losses. Typical χ(2) materials are oxides (BaTiO3, LiNbO3…) with a non-centrosymmetric crystal used for wavelength conversion like in second-harmonic generation (SHG).The key idea is to demonstrate original strategies to enhance SHG of χ(2) nano-oxides with the material itself and without involving any hybrid effects from other materials such as plasmonic resonances of metals. First, I propose to use multiple Mie resonances from BaTiO3 nanoparticles to boost SHG in the UV to NIR range. Up to now, Mie effects at the nanoscale have been measured in materials with no χ(2) nonlinearities (silicon spheres). Second, since χ(2) oxides are difficult to etch, I will overcome this fabrication issue by demonstrating solution processed imprint lithography to form high-quality photonic crystal cavities from nanoparticles. Third, I will use facet processing of single LiNbO3 nanowire to obtain directionality effects for spectroscopy on-a-chip. This work fosters applications and commercial devices offering a sustainable future to this field. Fields of science natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryalkali metalsnatural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryalkaline earth metalsengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringcomputer hardwarequantum computersnatural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrymetalloidsnatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsnonlinear optics Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2016-STG - ERC Starting Grant Call for proposal ERC-2016-STG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-STG - Starting Grant Host institution EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH Net EU contribution € 1 500 000,00 Address Raemistrasse 101 8092 Zuerich Switzerland See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Zürich Zürich Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 500 000,00 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH Switzerland Net EU contribution € 1 500 000,00 Address Raemistrasse 101 8092 Zuerich See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Zürich Zürich Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 500 000,00
