Giant optical nonlinearity of plasmonic nanostructures

The experimental studies of giant optical nonlinearity of single metal nanostructures are briefly reviewed. A new hybrid nanostructure – split-hole resonator (SHR) – is investigated. This structure is characterised by a record-high efficiency of third-harmonic generation and multiphoton luminescence (its nonlinearity exceeds that of a single nanohole by five orders of magnitude) and an unprecedently high sensitivity to light polarisation (extinction coefficient 4 × 10⁴).