Temperature effect on nonlinear optical response of metal-dielectric composite with interfacial layers

The dependence of nonlinear optical response on temperature is investigated theoretically for a metal-dielectric composite with interfacial layers in a dilute limit. We show that the effect of interfacial layers on the nonlinear optical response of such composites is more prominent at low temperatures than at high temperatures, that the interfacial factor depends on the volume fraction of metallic particles and the frequency of the incident wave, and that an optimal interfacial layer is found for which the nonlinear optical response is able to be enhanced to a maximal. It is shown that weak nonlinearity can be greatly enhanced if the interfacial factor, frequency and volume fraction are chosen appropriately. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.