Resonance-Enhanced Time Reflection at Photonic Temporal Interfaces

Abstract

Photonic temporal interfaces enable dynamic control of light fields, yet strong time reflection at optical frequencies remains challenging because conventional approaches demand large material refractive-index changes on ultrafast timescales. Here, we introduce a resonance-assisted mechanism that harnesses both polarization energy accumulated in a dispersive medium prior to the temporal interface and strongly increased energy supplied by the modulation system. We show that, under a specific critical condition, rapidly increasing the material resonance frequency yields orders-of-magnitude stronger time-reflected power flux density than what conventional plasma-frequency modulation provides. To implement this mechanism in optical systems, we identify two routes based on dielectric and plasmonic structural resonances. For the plasmonic route, we develop an analytical effective-medium model of conducting-oxide cylinder arrays, in which localized surface-plasmon resonances transform the constituent Drude response into a geometrically tunable effective Lorentz response. Using cadmium oxide as a representative material, we predict an enhancement exceeding three orders of magnitude in the summed reflected-mode power coefficient relative to the same homogeneous material under the same modest plasma-frequency modulation, even in the presence of realistic losses. These findings establish spatial resonance engineering as an effective route to strong temporal scattering with reduced demands on intrinsic material tunability.