Temporal soliton propagation and second harmonic generation in epsilon-near-zero plasmonic waveguides

Summary form only given. Metamaterials with near-zero-permittivity (ENZ), or equivalently plasmonic waveguides operated near their cut-off frequency, when loaded with nonlinear materials, may efficiently boost the naturally weak nonlinear optical responses. In general, they can spatially extend the nonlinearity enhancement, producing even larger efficiencies and lower power needs, with a moderate Q-factor of the associated resonance. The effects have been shown to effectively enhance the Kerr (χ⁽³⁾) third-order nonlinear susceptibility by several orders of magnitude (C. Argyropoulos et al., Phys. Rev. B 85, 045129, 2012). Moreover, the Purcell factor can also be enhanced at the ENZ operation without the usual restrictions of small volumes and high Q-factor resonances. This may be interesting for future optical nanocircuits and laser designs.