Measurements of second-order susceptibility at lambda= 1.5 mu in CdTe-based ternary alloys for efficient wavelength conversion

We have characterized the second-order optical nonlinear response of II-VI semiconductor ternary compounds Cd0.8Zn0.2Te and Cd0.78Mn0.22Te at lambda=1.5 mu m. A spectrally resolved phase-mismatch second-harmonic generation (SHG) technique has been used on bulk single crystals, exploiting 10(-13) s optical pulses and multichannel detection. The nonlinear d coefficient has been measured and chromatic dispersion parameters have been validated. By normalizing SHG results in view of applications to all-optical wavelength conversion, the tested compounds prove to be interesting alternatives to more renowned AlxGa1-xAs.