We study the effect of geometry on the nonlinear response of a network of quantum wires that form loops. Exploiting the fact that a loop’s transition moment matrix and energies are exactly solvable for each wire segment, they can be pieced together to determine a loop’s properties. A Monte Carlo method is used to sample the configuration space of all possible geometries to determine the shape that optimizes the intrinsic hyperpolarizability. We suggest that a combination of wire geometry and confinement effects can lead to artificial systems with ultra-large nonlinear response, which can be potentially made using known nanofabrication techniques.

Date Published: 11 October 2012
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8474, Optical Processes in Organic Materials and Nanostructures, 84740P (11 October 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.928874

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8474:
Optical Processes in Organic Materials and Nanostructures
Rachel Jakubiak; Manfred Eich; Jean-Michel Nunzi, Editor(s)