Third harmonic generation in Dirac semimetal Cd3As2

Abstract

Cadmium arsenide (Cd3As2), an emerging three-dimensional Dirac semimetal, has recently generated significant interest in the area of ultrafast optics and optoelectronics. However, its nonlinear susceptibility has not been experimentally studied; thus, it is not yet possible to evaluate its potential in nonlinear optics. In this work, we investigate third harmonic generation (THG) in a 100 nm thick Cd3As2 film using broadband infrared femtosecond lasers (across 1500–2350 nm). The χ3 of Cd3As2 (2.30 × 10−19 m2 V−2) is obtained by comparing the THG spectra with a glass substrate, graphene, and monolayer MoS2. We further demonstrate a simple approach to enhance the THG signal by introducing an underlying planar micro-cavity. An enhancement of about 420 times in the THG signal was recorded at ≃1560 nm. Our results indicate that Cd3As2 thin films can provide a similar platform for nonlinear optics with respect to graphene and may offer unique potential in the mid-infrared due to its broadband light–matter interaction and excellent tunability.