Linearly decayed evanescent optical field in planar refractive index well

Abstract

Evanescent optical field with linearly decaying profile is theoretically analyzed at the critical angle of incidence in a planar structure of one dimensional refractive index well (RIW). The linearity of the evanescent field is due to the presence of the second refractive index barrier, which also shifts the position of total internal reflection (TIR) away from the critical angle. The decaying rate is determined by the refractive indices of the two barriers, as well as the width of the well. With this linearly decayed evanescent field (LDEF), various profiles across the well, for example uniform one, can be formed via appropriate combination of the LDEFs, which can promote new applications in fields of material analysis and sensing in the molecular scale.