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Interplay between high-harmonic generation and photoluminescence in ZnO: Anisotropic spectral properties of harmonic emission and the role of excitons

Simon P. S. Jessen1, Mark Mero2, Marc J. J. Vrakking2, Rosana M. Turtos1, Peter Balling1, and Peter Jürgens2,*

  • *Contact author: juergens@mbi-berlin.de
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Phys. Rev. B 112, 214311 – Published 8 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/b56l-hvgn

Abstract

We investigate the nonlinear optical response of bulk ZnO under intense short-wave infrared excitation, focusing on the interplay between high-harmonic generation (HHG) and photoluminescence (PL). While HHG exhibits nonperturbative intensity scaling and a spectral blueshift consistent with plasma-induced refractive index changes, the PL signal shows a pronounced superlinear increase and a redshift, attributed to a combination of exciton-exciton scattering and phonon-assisted exciton recombination emission. A similar PL response under above-bandgap excitation supports its intrinsic origin. Spectral analysis of the HHG emission reveals an intensity-driven transition in the characteristics of the fifth harmonic, indicating a change in the underlying generation mechanism. These findings establish PL and spectral HHG analysis as complementary probes of strong-field and many-body effects in wide-bandgap semiconductors.

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Phys. Rev. B 112, 214311– Published 8 December, 2025
  • Received 13 August 2025
  • Revised 24 October 2025
  • Accepted 18 November 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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