2ND-HARMONIC GENERATION IN NONBIREFRINGENT SEMICONDUCTOR OPTICAL MICROCAVITIES

We analyze the second-harmonic generation process in a microcavity of optical nonlinear material. We show that, in the case when the cavity thickness is much smaller than the material coherence length and for sufficiently high finesses, no phase match procedures are necessary to obtain a quite large optical conversion yield. It is thus possible to capitalize on the large optical nonlinear susceptibilities of III-V or II-VI materials though these compounds are not birefringent. It is shown that by adjusting mirror reflectivity phases it is possible to obtain doubly resonant cavities in which there is no phase mismatch between pump and harmonic waves. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.