Dispersion of Surface Waves above Time-Varying Reactive Boundaries

TL;DR

This paper analytically derives the dispersion relation for surface waves on time-modulated reactive boundaries, revealing controllable band gaps and field amplification effects with potential applications in surface-wave communications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analytical framework for surface wave dispersion on time-varying boundaries and uncovers controllable band gaps and amplification effects not requiring wave synchronization.

Findings

Time-varying boundaries create tunable band gaps.

Field amplification occurs without wave synchronization.

Potential applications in microwave to optical surface-wave communications.

Abstract

In this presentation, we analytically derive the dispersion equation for surface waves traveling along reactive boundaries which are periodically modulated in time. In addition, we show numerical results for the dispersion curves and importantly uncover that time-varying boundaries generate band gaps that can be controlled by engineering the modulation spectrum. Furthermore, we also point out an interesting effect of field amplification related to the existence of such band gaps for surface waves. The effect of amplification does not require the synchronization of signal and pumping waves. This unique property is very promising to be applied in surface-wave communications from microwave to optical frequencies.