Abstract

We here propose the concept of enhanced evanescent tunneling (EET). Our analysis indicates that by means of a suitable control field, the transmission of evanescent waves across a forbidden gap can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude—well beyond the ordinary frustrated total internal reflection case. We show how such a phenomenon can be used to probe both the amplitude and phase of the evanescent portion of the angular spectrum, thereby allowing target superresolution. In principle EET can be manifested in other areas of physics where wave tunneling is involved.

© 2011 Optical Society of America

Recapturing lost evanescent power by tuning end face total internal reflection capable tunneling modes at a roughened fiber end face

Jianjun Ma, Yasser Chiniforooshan, Jiahua Chen, Wojtek J. Bock, Wenhui Hao, and Zhi Yuan Wang
Opt. Lett. 36(18) 3581-3583 (2011)

Superresolution imaging via ptychography

Andrew M. Maiden, Martin J. Humphry, Fucai Zhang, and John M. Rodenburg
J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 28(4) 604-612 (2011)

Evanescent-wave-induced frequency shift for optical superresolution imaging

Xiang Hao, Cuifang Kuang, Yanghui Li, and Xu Liu
Opt. Lett. 38(14) 2455-2458 (2013)

Superresolution of three-dimensional optical imaging by use of evanescent waves

Patrick C. Chaumet, Kamal Belkebir, and Anne Sentenac
Opt. Lett. 29(23) 2740-2742 (2004)

Symmetry breaking of optical vortices: birth and annihilation of singularities in the evanescent field

P. A. Brandão and C. S. J. Julião
Opt. Lett. 36(9) 1563-1565 (2011)