Assessment of tight-binding models for high-harmonic generation in zinc blende materials

Using a simulator for semiconductor Bloch equations (SBEs) accounting for the entire Brillouin zone, we examine the tight-binding (TB) description for zinc blende structure as a model for high-harmonic generation (HHG). We demonstrate that TB models of GaAs and ZnSe exhibit second-order nonlinear coefficients that compare favorably with measurements. For the higher-order portion of the spectrum, we use the results published by Xia et al. in Opt. Express26, 29393 (2018)10.1364/OE.26.029393 and show that the HHG spectra measured in reflection can be closely reproduced by our simulations free of adjustable parameters. We conclude that despite their relative simplicity, the TB models of GaAs and ZnSe represent useful tools to study both the low- and higher-order harmonic response in realistic simulations.