SIZE EFFECTS IN OPTICAL 2ND-HARMONIC GENERATION BY METALLIC NANOCRYSTALS AND SEMICONDUCTOR QUANTUM DOTS - THE ROLE OF QUANTUM CHAOTIC DYNAMICS

Second-harmonic generation in small metallic nanocrystals and semiconductor quantum dots is studied both experimentally and theoretically. The enhancement of the nonlinear optical response with the decrease of the particle radius from 100 to about 10 has been experimentally observed. The theoretical description based on the model of chaotic motion of noninteracting electrons in the particles agrees satisfactorily with the experimental data. © 1995 The American Physical Society.