Broadband time-reversal of optical pulses using a switchable photonic-crystal mirror

TL;DR

This paper presents an analytical solution for broadband optical pulse time-reversal using a switchable photonic-crystal mirror, potentially enabling highly efficient and accurate reversal of short optical pulses.

Contribution

It introduces an explicit formula for reversal efficiency and discusses implementation for optical pulses, advancing previous microwave-based methods.

Findings

Analytical formula for reversal efficiency derived

Potential for high-efficiency optical pulse time-reversal demonstrated

Implementation scheme for optical pulses discussed

Abstract

Recently, Chumak et al. have demonstrated experimentally the time-reversal of microwave spin pulses based on non-adiabatically tuning the wave speed in a spatially-periodic manner. Here, we solve the associated wave equations analytically, and give an explicit formula for the reversal efficiency. We then discuss the implementation for short optical electromagnetic pulses and show that the new scheme may lead to their accurate time-reversal with efficiency higher than before.