High-efficiency second-harmonic generation in reverse-polarization dual-layer lithium niobate waveguides.

Second-harmonic (SH) generation is an important way to generate short-wavelength light sources. Thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) resonators and waveguides featuring tight light confinement are flexible to realize mode- or quasi-phase-matching (MPM or QPM) and thus efficient SH generation. Here, we report an efficient SH with an absolute conversion efficiency of 45% in a reverse-polarized double-layer TFLN waveguide. Such a high conversion efficiency without periodic poling was realized with the pump of 67 mW in the 1550 nm band, benefiting from the employment of the largest nonlinear coefficient d ₃₃ and the significant nonlinear interaction of the fundamental transverse electric (TE) mode and the first-order TE mode in the vertical direction. This work paves the way toward on-chip integrated nonlinear optics in terms of harmonic generation and quantum light sources across the telecom and visible bands.