Cavity enhanced third-harmonic generation in Si:B pumped with intense terahertz pulses

We report third-harmonic generation (THG) of terahertz free-electron laser (FEL) pulses in Si:B at cryogenic temperatures. The physical mechanism of THG is attributed to the free-carrier χ(3) nonlinearity due to the non-parabolicity of the valence band. The value of χ(3) increases as a function of the carrier density, which are generated via impact ionization of the boron dopants under irradiation by the FEL pulses. By positioning the Si:B in a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1D PC) cavity, the measured THG intensity increases by a factor of about 200.