Bichromatic wave mixing to reach optically lossless semiconductors

A mechanism based on two-wave mixing to dramatically reduce optical losses in non-ohmic conductors is proposed. The losses in the probe mode are compensated due to the flow of energy from the support mode. The effect is derived from the solution of non-linear Maxwell’s equations combined with coherence conditions for two parametrically coupled waves. We provide a case which shows that this scheme can be realized experimentally in bulk semiconductors, e.g. zinc telluride (ZnTe), within the mid-IR frequency range.