Ultrafast topological transitions driven by permittivity modulation in non-Hermitian multilayers
Abstract
Ultrafast modulation of epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) media enables dynamic control of non-Hermitian photonic systems. We demonstrate that an ITO/SiO 2 /Ag multilayer supporting hybrid ENZ–plasmon modes undergoes pronounced temporal reshaping when described by a time-dependent Drude–Lorentz permittivity and analyzed using rigorous coupled-wave analysis. Picosecond carrier relaxation induces avoided crossings, transient spectral gaps, and mode hybridization, while reflection-phase singularities traverse the angle–wavelength plane and produce discrete changes in the winding number. The results establish ENZ-assisted temporal modulation as a compact platform for reconfigurable non-Hermitian photonics.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Quantum Mechanics and Non-Hermitian Physics
Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications
Plasmonic and Surface Plasmon Research
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Optics Letters
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1907–1907
- Publication date
- 26 February 2026
- Language
- EN