Theory of wave-front reversal of short pulses in dynamically-tuned zero-gap periodic systems

TL;DR

This paper presents an analytical framework for wave-front reversal of short pulses using dynamically-tuned zero-gap photonic crystals, demonstrating robustness to losses and dispersion for potential applications in optical signal processing.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analytical approach and design guidelines for achieving complete time-reversal in zero-gap periodic systems, advancing the understanding of wave-front manipulation.

Findings

Wave-front reversal achieved with zero-gap photonic crystals.

The scheme is weakly sensitive to material losses and dispersion.

Analytical methods facilitate design of time-reversal structures.

Abstract

Recently, we have shown that the wave-front of short pulses can be accurately and efficiently reversed by use of simple one-dimensional zero-gap photonic crystals. In this Article, we describe the analytical approach in detail, and discuss specific structures and modulation techniques as well as the required steps for achieving complete time-reversal. We also show that our scheme is only very weakly sensitive to material losses and dispersion.