Intensity decays waveguide evanescent waves

The second (real) term accounts for the exponential decay of the electric field intensity in the direction normal to the interface. The reflected beam combines with the incident beam, forming a standing electromagnetic wave at the interface (Fig. 9.9). The electric field that penetrates to the optically rarer medium of refractive index n, the evanescent field, plays a critical role in many optical sensors based on the waveguiding principle. Its depth of penetration dv is defined as the distance at which the initial intensity Eq decays to 1/e of its value. Thus from (9.18), dv is... 

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