Free electron harmonic generation in heavily doped semiconductors: the role of the materials properties

Heavily doped semiconductors have emerged as low-loss and tunable materials for plasmonics at mid-infrared frequencies. We analyze the nonlinear optical response of free electrons and show how nonlinear optical phenomena associated with high electron concentration are influenced by the intrinsic properties of semiconductors, namely background permittivity and effective mass. We apply our recently developed hydrodynamic description that takes into account nonlinear contributions up to the third order, usually negligible for noble metals, to compare third-harmonic generation from InP, Ge, GaAs, Si, ITO and InSb. We show how free electron nonlinearities may be enhanced with a proper choice of the semiconductor.