Understanding Optical Tunneling

[cragar]

So i was messing around with a wax prism and a microwave emitter. So I have an emitter and a detector and the microwaves are being shot straight across to the detector. But when I place a Wax prism in between it stops getting the signal . But then when we place a second wax prism next to it, it starts to get the signal again. And we placed the second prism from the side that was receiving no microwaves. Then i placed a piece of sheet metal between them and it stopped getting the signal. But it was explained to me that the photons went from one prism to the other without ever being in the gap. So it shouldn't matter that i put a piece of metal in between the prisms. Or are the microwaves getting redirected by the second prism?

 

[Andy Resnick]

Check out "frustrated total internal reflection" and "evanescent wave coupling". That should help you get oriented- there are no propagating photons in the gap, but there is an evanescent field. The piece of metal will indeed prevent tunneling,

 

[cragar]

ok thanks for your response