Open AccessPulse compression and broadening by reflection from a moving front of a photonic crystal
Author(s) -
Elena A. Ulchenko,
Dirk Jalas,
Alexander Yu. Petrov,
Michel Castellanos Muñoz,
Slawa Lang,
Manfred Eich
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.22.013280
Subject(s) - optics , photonic crystal , pulse compression , slow light , doppler broadening , reflection (computer programming) , refractive index , doppler effect , materials science , bandwidth (computing) , pulse (music) , photonics , optoelectronics , physics , spectral line , radar , telecommunications , computer science , astronomy , detector , programming language
Previously, the effect of pulse bandwidth compression or broadening was observed in reflection from a moving front together with the Doppler shift. In this letter, an approach is presented, which alters pulse bandwidth without change in the central frequency. It occurs when light is reflected from a moving front of an otherwise stationary photonic crystal. This means that the photonic crystal lattice as such is stationary and only its boundary to the environment is moving, thus extruding (or shortening) the photonic crystal medium. The compression (broadening) factor depends on the front velocity and is the same as for the conventional Doppler shift. Complete reflection and transformation of the pulse can be achieved even with weak refractive index contrast, what makes the approach experimentally viable.