Abstract

In the bulk of materials possessing a center of symmetry inversion, the process of optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) is forbidden within the electric-dipole approximation. As a consequence, the SH radiation produced by the excitation of an interface between two centrosymmetric media can actually arise in the few atomic or molecular layers of the interface, allowing careful investigation of the molecular structure of the adsorbates.

© 1984 Optical Society of America