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B-PHOT publication on nonlinear-optical data tables for emerging materials

23-11-2022

A recent manuscript on the composition of nonlinear-optical data tables for emerging materials has been published and accepted in the Journal of Physics: Photonics. This work is the result of a collaboration with twenty international experts under the coordination of B-PHOT researcher Prof. Nathalie Vermeulen.

Over the past three years, Prof. Nathalie Vermeulen has been coordinating, together with nonlinear-optics pioneer Prof. Eric Van Stryland from CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics (USA), the composition of nonlinear-optical data tables for emerging materials, in collaboration with twenty other international experts. Their work resulted in a 200-page manuscript with eight data tables along with a list of best practices for performing and reporting nonlinear-optical experiments. The manuscript was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Physics: Photonics and is now available online here.

The idea of composing a new set of data tables for nonlinear-optical materials emerged in 2020 on the occasion of 60 years of nonlinear-optics research. Several nonlinear-optical data tables were published before the turn of the century, and after the year 2000 additional data tables were introduced for specific material types, but a data table that focuses on the post-2000 nonlinear-optics research developments for a wide range of materials was missing.

To organize the composition of such a data table with twenty international experts, coordinators Prof. Vermeulen and Prof. Van Stryland decided to mainly look at experimental papers that not only provided nonlinearity values, but also reported experimental parameters that give the context and limits of validity for using the quoted values. In this regard, they also started working on a list of best practices for performing and reporting nonlinear-optical experiments.

The final manuscript contains eight tables with post-2000 nonlinear-optical data for various material categories (i.e. bulk materials, solvents, low-dimensional materials, metamaterials, fiber waveguiding materials, on-chip waveguiding materials, hybrid waveguiding systems and THz materials) along with a list of best practices for measuring and reporting the nonlinearities. The manuscript has meanwhile been accepted for publication in the Journal of Physics: Photonics.

By combining data tables for different material categories with a list of best practices, this work is expected to have a major impact in the nonlinear optics field as it will enable a more adequate comparison, interpretation and use of published data. This way, it will stimulate the overall progress in nonlinear optics research and its applications.

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