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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Characterization of Anisotropic Leaky Mode Modulators for Holovideo
Published on: March 19, 2016
Leaky waveguide modes along the edge of a dielectric wedge
Tobias Maletzky1, Kazuo Tanaka, Thierry Grosjean
1Physikalisches Institut, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, 48149 Münster, Germany. t.maletzky@gmx.de
Abstract:
It is shown experimentally that a Gaussian beam focused from within a finite wedge onto its edge at an angle of total reflection excites a leaky waveguide mode propagating along the edge. This newly described phenomenon is interpreted in terms of waveguide modes of a tapered dielectric slab of a mode index, which is known to decrease with slab thickness. This decrease in the refractive index leads to a gradual refraction of the incident beam parallel to the edge. A numerical simulation of a focused Gaussian beam incident on a finite dielectric wedge gives a full account of this phenomenon.
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