General three-wave mixing theory of planar parametric optical limiters

We present the theory of parametrically resonant surface plasmon polaritons. We show that a temporal modulation of the dielectric properties of the medium adjacent to a metallic surface can lead to efficient energy injection into the surface plasmon polariton modes supported at the interface. When the permittivity modulation is induced by a pump field exceeding a certain threshold intensity, such field undergoes a reverse saturable absorption process. We introduce a time-domain formalism to account for pump saturation and depletion effects. Finally, we discuss the viability of these effects for optical limiting applications.