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Visible and terahertz nonlinear responses in the topological noble metal dichalcogenide PdTe2

George J. de Coster1,2,*,†, Lucas Lafeta3,*,‡, Stefan Heiserer1, Cormac Ó Coileáin1, Zdenek Sofer4, Achim Hartschuh3, Georg S. Duesberg1, and Paul Seifert1,§

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: george.j.decoster.civ@army.mil
  • ‡Contact author: lucas.lafeta@cup.lmu.de
  • §Contact author: paul.seifert@unibw.de
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Phys. Rev. B 113, 165419 – Published 20 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/x5kl-blc5

Abstract

Nonlinear processes can offer pathways to next-generation sensors and frequency mixing devices to overcome modern imaging, detection, and communication challenges. In this article, we report on strong second- and third-order nonlinear optical responses in visible and terahertz light in single crystals of the noble metal dichalcogenide PdTe2. We find that buried conduction and valence topological surface states of PdTe2 lead to resonant optical second-harmonic generation. On the other hand, although the nonlinear responses obtained with terahertz excitation are not close to this resonance, they can be clearly observed in reflection geometry, even in the presence of broadband excitation, where optical filters are not necessary to observe the enhanced odd-order higher harmonic output. By carefully considering the radiative photocurrent framework of stimulated terahertz emission, we are able to extract fingerprints of both second- and third-order processes in the terahertz regime, and show that PdTe2 is a promising material candidate for radio-frequency rectification, frequency mixing, and beam focusing.

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Phys. Rev. B 113, 165419– Published 20 April, 2026
  • Received 26 November 2025
  • Accepted 13 March 2026
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