Third Harmonic Generation in Transparent Longitudinal Epsilon-Near-Zero Multilayers

Abstract: Epsilon near zero (ENZ) materials can dramatically enhance local optical fields, enabling nonlinear interactions at relatively low intensities. Yet, near their plasma frequency, conventional isotropic ENZ media remain highly absorptive, limiting nonlinear operations that require good transparency. Longitudinal epsilon near zero metamaterials (LENZ), characterized by a vanishing permittivity along the optical axis provide an exceptional platform for field enhancement while mitigating absorption losses and impedance mismatch. We experimentally show that a Si and ITO multilayer engineered for a LENZ resonance in the near-infrared enables broadband, high pump transmission while still harnessing ENZ enhanced nonlinearity to generate a strong third harmonic signal. This demonstrates that efficient nonlinear processes can be driven without the high-loss conditions typical of isotropic ENZ media and regardless of intrinsic absorption at the harmonic frequency. The resulting third harmonic efficiency is comparable to isotropic ENZ films but without the absorption-induced heating constraints of ENZ operation. The high pump transmission enables transparent LENZ (TLENZ) stacks to be integrated into optical cavities, where resonant field buildup could amplify the nonlinear response without compromising thermal management. These results establish TLENZ multilayers as a robust, versatile platform for transparent, field enhanced nonlinear nanophotonics, combining strong light matter interaction with low-loss operation.