Fano resonances in dielectric metasurfaces with hemispherical voids: Effect on the optical Kerr nonlinearity

Abstract

The optical behavior of the square lattices of the hemispherical nanovoids on the surface of the high-refractive-index all-dielectric slabs in the visible range is studied numerically using gallium phosphide as an example. There exist Fano resonances for these metasurfaces for a limited range of thicknesses. The Fano resonances are caused by the interference between the Mie-type scattering resonances of surface pattern elements and the Fabry–Pérot modes of the slabs. The maximum enhancements of the optical Kerr nonlinearity with respect to the bulk material are revealed at the Fano resonances, in particular, for the thinnest nanostructures. Interestingly, no positive correlation between the quality factor and the enhancement of the optical Kerr effect of the metasurface at the Fano resonances is observed.