Field-controllable second harmonic generation at a graphene oxide heterointerface.

We report on the voltage-dependent SHG signal obtained in a reduced-graphene oxide (rGO)/p-type Si heterointerface. A simple qualitative model considering the interaction between the heterointerface depletion region potential and the naturally occurring surface dipole layer on the rGO is introduced to account for the characteristics of the SHG signal, specifically, a minimum point at ≈ -3 V bias on the rGO side of the interface. This feature-rich system has the potential to provide field-controllable surface-dipole moments and second-order nonlinearities, which may find applications in tunable nonlinear photonic devices for realizing second-harmonic generation and optical-rectification.