Quasi-phase-matching enabled by van der Waals stacking

Yilin Tang; Kabilan Sripathy; Hao Qin; Zhuoyuan Lu; Giovanni Guccione; Jiri Janousek; Yi Zhu; Md Mehedi Hasan; Yoshihiro Iwasa; Ping Koy Lam; Yuerui Lu

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-53472-2

Quasi-phase-matching enabled by van der Waals stacking

Nat Commun. 2024 Nov 18;15(1):9979. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53472-2.

Authors

Yilin Tang^#^{1

2}, Kabilan Sripathy^#^{3

4}, Hao Qin^#¹, Zhuoyuan Lu¹, Giovanni Guccione^{2

3}, Jiri Janousek^{1

2}, Yi Zhu⁵, Md Mehedi Hasan¹, Yoshihiro Iwasa⁶, Ping Koy Lam^{7

8}, Yuerui Lu^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ School of Engineering, College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics, the Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
² ARC Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
³ Research School of Physics, College of Science, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁴ Department of Computer Engineering, TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
⁵ Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
⁶ RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan.
⁷ Research School of Physics, College of Science, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia. [email protected].
⁸ Quantum Innovation Centre (Q.InC), Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), 2 Fusionopolis Way, Innovis #08-03, 138634, Singapore, Republic of Singapore. [email protected].
⁹ School of Engineering, College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics, the Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia. [email protected].
¹⁰ ARC Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Quasi-phase matching (QPM) is a technique extensively utilized in nonlinear optics for enhancing the efficiency and stability of frequency conversion processes. However, the conventional QPM relies on periodically poled ferroelectric crystals, which are limited in availability. The 3R phase of molybdenum disulfide (3R-MoS₂), a transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDc) with the broken inversion symmetry, stands out as a promising candidate for QPM, enabling efficient nonlinear process. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the QPM at nanoscale, utilizing van der Waals stacking of 3R-MoS₂ layers with specific orientation to realize second harmonic generation (SHG) enhancement beyond the non QPM limit. We have also demonstrated enhanced spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) via QPM of 3R-MoS₂ homo-structure, enabling more efficient generation of entangled photon pairs. The tunable capacity of 3R-MoS₂ van der Waals stacking provides a platform for tuning phase-matching condition. This technique opens interesting possibilities for potential applications in nonlinear process and quantum technology.