Characterization of the Second Harmonic Generation of Boron Nitride Nanotube Macroscopic Assemblies

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are predicted to be promising one-dimensional nonlinear optical materials, but to date, only one experimental observation has been made using individual nanotubes. In this work, second harmonic generation (SHG) was achieved from free-standing bulk BNNT sheets and BNNT...

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Main Authors: Ping Lu, Jingwen Guan, Cyril Hnatovsky, Huimin Ding, Kasthuri De Silva, Liliana Gaburici, Christopher Kingston, Stephen J. Mihailov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Nanomaterials
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/15/11/861
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author Ping Lu
Jingwen Guan
Cyril Hnatovsky
Huimin Ding
Kasthuri De Silva
Liliana Gaburici
Christopher Kingston
Stephen J. Mihailov
author_facet Ping Lu
Jingwen Guan
Cyril Hnatovsky
Huimin Ding
Kasthuri De Silva
Liliana Gaburici
Christopher Kingston
Stephen J. Mihailov
author_sort Ping Lu
collection DOAJ
description Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are predicted to be promising one-dimensional nonlinear optical materials, but to date, only one experimental observation has been made using individual nanotubes. In this work, second harmonic generation (SHG) was achieved from free-standing bulk BNNT sheets and BNNT coatings on silica substrates. Focusing femtosecond infrared (fs-IR) laser pulses with a wavelength of 800 nm onto the BNNT assemblies resulted in strong SHG at a wavelength of 400 nm. It was observed that due to the thickness variation of the BNNT assemblies and orientational alignment of BNNTs in the assemblies, the intensity of the second-harmonic (SH) radiation changed dramatically when different locations on the samples were investigated. Among all the BNNT assemblies tested, the localized SH response and its dependence on the polarization of the excitation fs-IR pulses were the strongest in BNNT coatings produced by a dip-coating process. By measuring the SH response, the uniformity, reproducibility, and efficiency of BNNT deposition processes could be assessed. For applications requiring a high SH response from BNNT assemblies, the process of dip coating is preferred.
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series Nanomaterials
spelling doaj-art-afd88327c36e475284e93aee5bc4f89c2025-08-20T02:23:09ZengMDPI AGNanomaterials2079-49912025-06-01151186110.3390/nano15110861Characterization of the Second Harmonic Generation of Boron Nitride Nanotube Macroscopic AssembliesPing Lu0Jingwen Guan1Cyril Hnatovsky2Huimin Ding3Kasthuri De Silva4Liliana Gaburici5Christopher Kingston6Stephen J. Mihailov7Quantum and Nanotechnologies Research Center, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, CanadaQuantum and Nanotechnologies Research Center, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, CanadaQuantum and Nanotechnologies Research Center, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, CanadaQuantum and Nanotechnologies Research Center, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, CanadaQuantum and Nanotechnologies Research Center, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, CanadaQuantum and Nanotechnologies Research Center, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, CanadaQuantum and Nanotechnologies Research Center, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, CanadaQuantum and Nanotechnologies Research Center, National Research Council Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, CanadaBoron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are predicted to be promising one-dimensional nonlinear optical materials, but to date, only one experimental observation has been made using individual nanotubes. In this work, second harmonic generation (SHG) was achieved from free-standing bulk BNNT sheets and BNNT coatings on silica substrates. Focusing femtosecond infrared (fs-IR) laser pulses with a wavelength of 800 nm onto the BNNT assemblies resulted in strong SHG at a wavelength of 400 nm. It was observed that due to the thickness variation of the BNNT assemblies and orientational alignment of BNNTs in the assemblies, the intensity of the second-harmonic (SH) radiation changed dramatically when different locations on the samples were investigated. Among all the BNNT assemblies tested, the localized SH response and its dependence on the polarization of the excitation fs-IR pulses were the strongest in BNNT coatings produced by a dip-coating process. By measuring the SH response, the uniformity, reproducibility, and efficiency of BNNT deposition processes could be assessed. For applications requiring a high SH response from BNNT assemblies, the process of dip coating is preferred.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/15/11/861boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs)second harmonic generation (SHG)femtosecond infrared (fs-IR) lasernonlinear optics
spellingShingle Ping Lu
Jingwen Guan
Cyril Hnatovsky
Huimin Ding
Kasthuri De Silva
Liliana Gaburici
Christopher Kingston
Stephen J. Mihailov
Characterization of the Second Harmonic Generation of Boron Nitride Nanotube Macroscopic Assemblies
Nanomaterials
boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs)
second harmonic generation (SHG)
femtosecond infrared (fs-IR) laser
nonlinear optics
title Characterization of the Second Harmonic Generation of Boron Nitride Nanotube Macroscopic Assemblies
title_full Characterization of the Second Harmonic Generation of Boron Nitride Nanotube Macroscopic Assemblies
title_fullStr Characterization of the Second Harmonic Generation of Boron Nitride Nanotube Macroscopic Assemblies
title_full_unstemmed Characterization of the Second Harmonic Generation of Boron Nitride Nanotube Macroscopic Assemblies
title_short Characterization of the Second Harmonic Generation of Boron Nitride Nanotube Macroscopic Assemblies
title_sort characterization of the second harmonic generation of boron nitride nanotube macroscopic assemblies
topic boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs)
second harmonic generation (SHG)
femtosecond infrared (fs-IR) laser
nonlinear optics
url https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/15/11/861
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