Cross-Beam energy transfer saturation: Ion heating and pump depletion

Cross-beam energy transfer (CBET) was measured in two regimes where the energy transfer saturation mechanism was determined by the plasma and laser beam conditions. Linear kinetic CBET theory agreed well with the measured energy transfer in all experiment configurations and at all probe beam intensities when accounting for pump depletion and the plasma conditions measured using Thomson-scattering. Simultaneous CBET and Thomson-scattering measurements enabled uncertainties in the plasma conditions to be isolated from CBET theory, which allowed the saturation mechanisms to be identified. In the perpendicular-beam configuration the saturation mode was through ion heating, which resulted from ion trapping in the driven waves and subsequent ion-ion collisional heating. In the co-propagating beam configuration there was minimal ion heating and the saturation mode was through pump depletion.

Multipolar second-harmonic generation from high-Q quasi-BIC states in subwavelength resonators

We put forward the multipolar model which captures the physics behind linear and nonlinear response driven by high-quality (high-Q) supercavity modes in subwavelength particles. We show that the formation of such trapped states associated with bound states in the continuum (quasi-BIC) can be understood through multipolar transformations of coupled leaky modes. The quasi-BIC state appears with increasing the order of the dominating multipole, where dipolar losses are completely suppressed. The efficient optical coupling to this state in the AlGaAs nanodisk is implemented via azimuthally polarized beam illumination matching its multipolar origin. We establish a one-to-one correspondence between the standard phenomenological non-Hermitian coupled-mode theory and multipolar models. The derived multipolar composition of the generated second-harmonic radiation from the AlGaAs nanodisk is then validated with full-wave numerical simulations. Back-action of the second-harmonic radiation onto the fundamental frequency is taken into account in the coupled nonlinear model with pump depletion. A hybrid metal-dielectric nanoantenna is proposed to augment the conversion efficiency up to tens of per cent due to increasing quality factors of the involved resonant states. Our findings delineate novel promising strategies in the design of functional elements for nonlinear nanophotonics applications.