Enhanced effective nonlinearities in silicon nitride free-standing nanopatterned membranes
Year: 2026
Authors: Franceschini P., Nikitin M., Tognazzi A., Branko K., Takayama O., Malureanu R., Cino AC., De Angelis C., Lavrinenko A.
Autors Affiliation: Univ Brescia, Dept Informat Engn, Via Branze 38, I-25123 Brescia, Italy; CNR, Natl Inst Opt, Via Branze 45, I-25123 Brescia, Italy; Tech Univ Denmark, Dept Elect & Photon Engn, Orsteds Plads,Bldg 345A, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark; Univ Palermo, Dipartimento Ingn, Viale Sci, I-90128 Palermo, Italy; Univ Warsaw, Fac Phys, Ul Pasteura 5, PL-02093 Warsaw, Poland; Tech Univ Denmark, Natl Ctr Nano Fabricat & Characterizat, Orsteds Plads 347, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.
Abstract: Silicon nitride (SiN) represents a promising complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor material for on-chip nanophotonics applications due to its unexpected linear and nonlinear optical properties. Here, we experimentally and numerically investigate the linear and nonlinear response of SiN free-standing nanostructured thin-film membranes. Compared to the unpatterned platform, the design of a square-lattice patterning gives rise to a nonlocal resonant mode that enhances the effective third-order optical nonlinearity by a factor of 3.4-5 at the resonance wavelength, as determined from Z-scan experiments. Finite-element simulations clarify that the magnitude of the lattice-induced frequency dispersion of the Kerr coefficient also depends on the spectral and geometrical properties of the interacting light excitation. Our results propose patterned SiN nanomembranes as a promising nanophotonics platform for enhanced nonlinear frequency conversion processes.
Journal/Review: APL PHOTONICS
Volume: 11 (2) Pages from: 21301-1 to: 21301-6
More Information: A. T. acknowledges financial support from the University of Palermo through Fondo Finalizzato alla Ricerca di Ateneo 2025 (FFR2025). A. C. C. aknowledges Ecosistema dell’Innovazione Sicilian MicronanoTech Research And Innovation Center – SAMOTHRACE – B73C22000810001- ECS_00000022. C.D.A. acknowledges financial support from the European Union under the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) of NextGenerationEU, in partnership on Telecommunications of the Future (PE00000001 – program RESTART), PNRR RESTART Project SMART METASURFACES ADVANCING RADIO TECHNOLOGY – SMART – CUP E63C22002040007. C.D.A. acknowledges financial support from the NATO Project MELITE (SPS Grant No. G6137). A.L. acknowledges financial support from Villum Fonden (No. 00037822). O.T. acknowledges financial support from Novo Nordisk Fonden, Project Grant in Natural and Technical Sciences, Extremely anisotropic nanostructures for lightwave steering (Extra Light, grant No. 0093187).KeyWords: GenerationDOI: 10.1063/5.0309777
