Nonlinear optical sub-bandgap excitation of ZnO-based photonic resonators

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a versatile candidate for photonic devices due to its highly efficient optical emission. However, for pumping of ZnO photonic devices UV-sources are required. Here, we investigate the alternative usage of widely available pulsed near-infrared (NIR)-sources and compare the efficiency of linear and nonlinear excitation processes. We found that bulk ZnO, ZnO thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy, and ZnO/SiO2 microdisk devices exhibit strong nonlinear response when excited with NIR pulses (λ ≈ 1060 nm). In addition, we show that the ZnO/SiO2 microdisks exhibit sharp whispering gallery modes over the blue-yellow part of the visible spectrum for both excitation conditions and high Q-factors up to Q = 4700. The results demonstrate that nonlinear excitation is an efficient way to pump ZnO photonic devices.