Modulating time refraction via collisional plasma-formed photonic time interfaces
Abstract
Temporal interfaces created by abrupt refractive-index changes enable frequency conversion and underpin photonic time crystals, but bidirectional control in a single physical system remains difficult. Here we show that collisional plasma provides pressure-controlled bidirectional microwave frequency modulation. We develop a self-consistent framework coupling finite-difference time-domain electrodynamics with particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision kinetics, avoiding a prescribed Drude permittivity for the transient plasma response. The model predicts that high gas pressure produces a redshift dominated by collisional momentum relaxation, whereas low pressure produces a blueshift driven by rapid ionization and electron-density dispersion. Experiments using a waveguide-loaded gas discharge system reproduce the pressure-dependent shift directions predicted by the simulations. These results identify gas pressure as a control parameter for time refraction in plasma and provide a microscopic framework for designing dynamic temporal photonic systems.
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BibTeX
@article{wei2026modulating,
title = {{Modulating time refraction via collisional plasma-formed photonic time interfaces}},
author = {Xiuli Wei and Zijian Liu and Jianfei Li and Zheyu Li and Ying Wang and Zhongxiang Zhou and Jingfeng Yao and Chengxun Yuan},
journal = {Communications Physics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s42005-026-02913-z},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-026-02913-z},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Modulating time refraction via collisional plasma-formed photonic time interfaces
AU - Xiuli Wei
AU - Zijian Liu
AU - Jianfei Li
AU - Zheyu Li
AU - Ying Wang
AU - Zhongxiang Zhou
AU - Jingfeng Yao
AU - Chengxun Yuan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - Communications Physics
DO - 10.1038/s42005-026-02913-z
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-026-02913-z
AB - Temporal interfaces created by abrupt refractive-index changes enable frequency conversion and underpin photonic time crystals, but bidirectional control in a single physical system remains difficult. Here we show that collisional plasma provides pressure-controlled bidirectional microwave frequency modulation. We develop a self-consistent framework coupling finite-difference time-domain electrodynamics with particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision kinetics, avoiding a prescribed Drude permittivity for the transient plasma response. The model predicts that high gas pressure produces a redshift dominated by collisional momentum relaxation, whereas low pressure produces a blueshift driven by rapid ionization and electron-density dispersion. Experiments using a waveguide-loaded gas discharge system reproduce the pressure-dependent shift directions predicted by the simulations. These results identify gas pressure as a control parameter for time refraction in plasma and provide a microscopic framework for designing dynamic temporal photonic systems.
SN - 2399-3650
ER -