The centrosymmetric diamond structure of bulk silicon inherently lacks second-order nonlinearity, thereby limiting its applicability in photonic devices. In this work, we systematically investigate the second-harmonic generation (SHG) responses on Si(001) surfaces by employing symmetry-breaking strategies through surface engineering and molecular functionalization using first-principles density functional theory calculations. Four reconstructed Si(001) surfaces, including (1 × 1), (2 × 1), (1 × 2), and (2 × 2), were systematically examined. Among them, the (2 × 2) configuration exhibits the highest stability, while the (1 × 1) surface shows the strongest SHG activity. The simulated polarization-dependent SHG images reveal distinct symmetries of the (1 × 1) surface, whereas the other surfaces exhibit similar symmetric characteristics for both parallel and perpendicular components. Furthermore, 14 adsorption structures of ethylene on the Si(001)-(2 × 2) surface were examined, including both parallel and bridging configurations. The presence of adsorbed C2H4 significantly modulates the SHG response of the Si(001)-(2 × 2) surface. Specifically, most parallel adsorption geometries suppress the SHG intensity, while bridging configurations enhance the nonlinear optical activity of the surface. Notably, polarization-dependent SHG patterns are highly sensitive to molecular adsorption configurations, demonstrating that SHG spectroscopy is a powerful tool for characterizing surface reconstructions and interfacial molecular arrangements.
Huang et al. (2026) studied this question.