Second harmonic generation in silicon nitride waveguides integrated with MoS$_2$ monolayers: the importance of a full vectorial modeling

Abstract: Integrating 2D materials into on-chip photonic devices holds significant potential for nonlinear frequency conversion across various applications. The lack of inversion symmetry in monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD), such as MoS$_2$ and WS$_2$, is particularly attractive for enabling nonlinear phenomena based on $\chi^{(2)}$ in silicon photonic devices incorporated with these materials. Previous studies have demonstrated second-order nonlinearities in on-chip silicon-based devices integrated with transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). However, they have largely overlooked the nonlinear modal interaction that considers both the tensorial nature of the TMD's second-order susceptibility and the full vectorial nature of the electromagnetic fields. In this work, we investigate second-harmonic generation (SHG) in silicon nitride (SiN) waveguides integrated with a monolayer of MoS$_2$. We experimentally observed an enhancement in second-harmonic generation (SHG) in MoS$_2$-loaded waveguides compared to those without the monolayer. Notably, this enhancement occurred even when the primary electric field component of the pump and/or signal mode was orthogonal to the TMD plane, highlighting co- and cross-polarized SHG interactions. This phenomenon cannot be predicted by the traditionally used scalar models.In addition, we provide important guidelines for the design of MoS$_2$-loaded waveguides, taking into account phase-matching, interaction length and the MoS$_2$ crystal orientation with respect to the waveguide axis.