Time-refraction optics with single cycle modulation
Lustig Eran,
Segal Ohad,
Saha Soham,
Bordo Eliyahu,
Chowdhury Sarah N.,
Sharabi Yonatan,
Fleischer Avner,
Boltasseva Alexandra,
Cohen Oren,
Shalaev Vladimir M.,
Segev Mordechai
Affiliations
Lustig Eran
Physics Department and Solid State Institute, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Segal Ohad
Physics Department and Solid State Institute, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Saha Soham
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Birck Nanotechnology Center and Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Bordo Eliyahu
Physics Department and Solid State Institute, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Chowdhury Sarah N.
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Birck Nanotechnology Center and Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Sharabi Yonatan
Physics Department and Solid State Institute, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Fleischer Avner
School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Boltasseva Alexandra
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Birck Nanotechnology Center and Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Cohen Oren
Physics Department and Solid State Institute, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Shalaev Vladimir M.
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Birck Nanotechnology Center and Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Segev Mordechai
Physics Department and Solid State Institute, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
We present an experimental study of optical time-refraction caused by time-interfaces as short as a single optical cycle. Specifically, we study the propagation of a probe pulse through a sample undergoing a large refractive index change induced by an intense modulator pulse. In these systems, increasing the refractive index abruptly leads to time-refraction where the spectrum of all the waves propagating in the medium is red-shifted, and subsequently blue-shifted when the refractive index relaxes back to its original value. We observe these phenomena in the single-cycle regime. Moreover, by shortening the temporal width of the modulator to ∼5–6 fs, we observe that the rise time of the red-shift associated with time-refraction is proportionally shorter. The experiments are carried out in transparent conducting oxides acting as epsilon-near-zero materials. These observations raise multiple questions on the fundamental physics occurring within such ultrashort time frames, and open the way for experimenting with photonic time-crystals, generated by periodic ultrafast changes to the refractive index, in the near future.
