{"id":{"repo_id":"wustl","oai_identifier":"oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:etd-1758"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/wustl/oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:etd-1758","repository":{"repo_id":"wustl","name":"Washington University in St. Louis","base_url":"https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Orders of Magnitude Enhancement of Optical Nonlinear Phenomena in Subwavelength Metal-Dielectric Gratings","abstract":"Nonlinear optical materials give rise to a multitude of phenomena that have important applications in technology and science. Due to small nonlinearities in naturally occurring materials, large optical fields are necessary to realize measurable nonlinear phenomena. The necessity of high intensity sources severely limits its use in practical applications, especially in low-powered devices. Several methods for enhancement of nonlinearity have been proposed, including use of conjugate polymers, resonators, and metallic nanoparticles. In this thesis, the nonlinear enhancement properties of subwavelength metal-dielectric gratings are explored. Enhancement in nonlinearity by several orders of magnitude is achieved, with the enhancement entirely controlled by the geometry of the structure, and independent of the wavelength of incident light. Ultimately, the nonlinear enhancement properties of metal-dielectric gratings allows for the reduction of input light intensity in producing nonlinear optical phenomena, and is an important step in the design low-powered nonlinear optical applications.","abstract_html":"Nonlinear optical materials give rise to a multitude of phenomena that have important applications in technology and science. Due to small nonlinearities in naturally occurring materials, large optical fields are necessary to realize measurable nonlinear phenomena. The necessity of high intensity sources severely limits its use in practical applications, especially in low-powered devices. Several methods for enhancement of nonlinearity have been proposed, including use of conjugate polymers, resonators, and metallic nanoparticles. In this thesis, the nonlinear enhancement properties of subwavelength metal-dielectric gratings are explored. Enhancement in nonlinearity by several orders of magnitude is achieved, with the enhancement entirely controlled by the geometry of the structure, and independent of the wavelength of incident light. Ultimately, the nonlinear enhancement properties of metal-dielectric gratings allows for the reduction of input light intensity in producing nonlinear optical phenomena, and is an important step in the design low-powered nonlinear optical applications.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ironside, Daniel"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Electrical and Systems Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jung-Tsung Shen"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:58Z","subjects":["Nonlinear Optics","Bistability","Harmonic Generation"],"languages":["English (en)"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/K7ZS2TK5"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.7936/K7ZS2TK5","href":"https://doi.org/10.7936/K7ZS2TK5","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/759","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jung-Tsung Shen"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ironside, Daniel"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-02-22T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Electrical and Systems Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Nonlinear Optics","Bistability","Harmonic Generation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English (en)"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/759"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/K7ZS2TK5"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Nonlinear optical materials give rise to a multitude of phenomena that have important applications in technology and science. Due to small nonlinearities in naturally occurring materials, large optical fields are necessary to realize measurable nonlinear phenomena. The necessity of high intensity sources severely limits its use in practical applications, especially in low-powered devices. Several methods for enhancement of nonlinearity have been proposed, including use of conjugate polymers, resonators, and metallic nanoparticles. In this thesis, the nonlinear enhancement properties of subwavelength metal-dielectric gratings are explored. Enhancement in nonlinearity by several orders of magnitude is achieved, with the enhancement entirely controlled by the geometry of the structure, and independent of the wavelength of incident light. Ultimately, the nonlinear enhancement properties of metal-dielectric gratings allows for the reduction of input light intensity in producing nonlinear optical phenomena, and is an important step in the design low-powered nonlinear optical applications."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Orders of Magnitude Enhancement of Optical Nonlinear Phenomena in Subwavelength Metal-Dielectric Gratings"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jung-Tsung Shen"],"dc:creator":["Ironside, Daniel"],"dc:date.available":["2013-02-22T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Nonlinear optical materials give rise to a multitude of phenomena that have important applications in technology and science. Due to small nonlinearities in naturally occurring materials, large optical fields are necessary to realize measurable nonlinear phenomena. The necessity of high intensity sources severely limits its use in practical applications, especially in low-powered devices. Several methods for enhancement of nonlinearity have been proposed, including use of conjugate polymers, resonators, and metallic nanoparticles. In this thesis, the nonlinear enhancement properties of subwavelength metal-dielectric gratings are explored. Enhancement in nonlinearity by several orders of magnitude is achieved, with the enhancement entirely controlled by the geometry of the structure, and independent of the wavelength of incident light. Ultimately, the nonlinear enhancement properties of metal-dielectric gratings allows for the reduction of input light intensity in producing nonlinear optical phenomena, and is an important step in the design low-powered nonlinear optical applications."],"dc:identifier":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/759"],"dc:identifier.doi":["https://doi.org/10.7936/K7ZS2TK5"],"dc:language":["English (en)"],"dc:subject":["Nonlinear Optics","Bistability","Harmonic Generation"],"dc:title":["Orders of Magnitude Enhancement of Optical Nonlinear Phenomena in Subwavelength Metal-Dielectric Gratings"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Electrical and Systems Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:12:58Z"}