Scattering of transient waves by an interface with time-modulated jump conditions

Time modulation of the physical parameters offers interesting new possibilities for wave control. Examples include amplification of waves, harmonic generation and non-reciprocity, without resorting to non-linear mechanisms. Most of the recent studies focus on the time-modulation of the bulk physical properties. However, as the temporal modulation of these properties is difficult to achieve experimentally, we will concentrate here on the special case of an interface with time-varying jump conditions, which is simpler to implement. This work is focused on wave propagation in a one-dimensional medium containing one modulated interface. Properties of the scattered waves are investigated theoretically: energy balance, generation of harmonics, impedance matching and non-reciprocity. A fourth-order numerical method is also developed to simulate transient scattering. Numerical experiments are conducted to validate the numerical scheme and to illustrate the theoretical findings.