Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Making tunnel barriers (including metals) transparent.

I R Hooper1, T W Preist, J R Sambles

  • 1School of Physics, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, Devon, United Kingdom.

Physical Review Letters
|October 10, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Trapped Scholte modes supported by soft elastic cylindrical rods underwater.

Physical review. E·2026
Same author

Zero electromagnetic coupling of closely spaced identical helical resonators.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

Microwave modes of ambidextrous helices.

Scientific reports·2025
Same author

Method for extracting the surface impedance of a generic reflective metasurface.

Scientific reports·2024
Same author

Microwave demonstration of Purcell effect enhanced radiation efficiency.

Scientific reports·2023
Same author

Tailoring the refractive index of impedance-matched ferrite composites.

Scientific reports·2022
Same journal

Erratum: Bacterial Turbulence at Compressible Fluid Interfaces [Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 138301 (2026)].

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Unveiling Light-Quark Yukawa Flavor Structure via Dihadron Fragmentation at Lepton Colliders.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Adaptable Route to Fast Coherent State Transport via Bang-Bang-Bang Protocols.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Topological Transition and Emergence of Elasticity of Dislocation in Skyrmion Lattice: Beyond Kittel's Magnetic-Polar Analogy.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Pound-Drever-Hall Method for Superconducting-Qubit Readout.

Physical review letters·2026
Same journal

Coupling a ^{73}Ge Nuclear Spin to an Electrostatically Defined Quantum Dot in Silicon.

Physical review letters·2026
See all related articles

Quantum tunneling barriers become fully transparent with impedance matching. This breakthrough enables enhanced transmission through materials, challenging classical physics principles.

Area of Science:

  • Optics and Photonics
  • Quantum Mechanics
  • Materials Science

Background:

  • Classical physics describes impenetrable barriers, but quantum mechanics allows tunneling.
  • Quantum tunneling is a phenomenon where particles pass through potential energy barriers that they classically shouldn't surmount.
  • Previous methods for enhancing transmission through barriers were limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate complete transparency of classical barriers using impedance matching.
  • To explore the application of this mechanism to optical systems and thin metal films.
  • To provide experimental evidence for enhanced transmission beyond classical limits.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical modeling of impedance matching for quantum tunneling barriers.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Optical experiments utilizing frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) to mimic quantum tunneling.
  • Fabrication and characterization of thin metal films for transmission enhancement studies.

    • Main Results:

    • Impedance matching media rendered the "brick wall" barrier completely transparent to quantum tunneling.
    • Frustrated total internal reflection experiments confirmed the predicted enhanced transmission.
    • Vastly enhanced optical transmission through unstructured thin metal films was achieved without surface wave excitation.

    Conclusions:

    • Impedance matching is a powerful technique to overcome quantum tunneling limitations.
    • The demonstrated mechanism offers a novel approach for manipulating wave transmission in optical and quantum systems.
    • This work has implications for metamaterials, optics, and quantum technologies.