Metal Chalcogenides: A Rich Source of Nonlinear Optical Materials

Materials chemistry and the pursuit of new compounds through exploratory synthesis are having a strong impact in many technological fields. The field of nonlinear optics is directly impacted by the availability of enabling materials with high performance. Nonlinear optical (NLO) phenomena such as second harmonic and difference frequency generation (SHG and DFG, respectively) are effective at producing a coherent laser beam in difficult to reach frequency regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Such regions include the infrared (IR), far-infrared, and terahertz frequencies. High performance NLO crystals are critical for applications utilizing these coherent light sources, and new materials are continuously…