Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy

Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy

Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy or TIRF is an advanced microscopic technique used to visualize fluorophores in samples close to a solid surface with a higher refractive index, such as a glass coverslip. TIRF only allows fluorophores in proximity to the solid surface to be excited. When light from a medium with a lower refractive index (such as air) hits the glass coverslip at a critical angle, the light undergoes total internal reflection stead of passing through the glass.

Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) Infrared Spectroscopy: Overview

Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) Infrared Spectroscopy: Overview

Attenuated total reflectance (ATR) infrared spectroscopy is a powerful analytical technique used to study the composition of materials. It is widely employed in chemistry, materials science, forensic science, and other fields where sample characterization is required. ATR has several advantages over traditional transmission IR spectroscopy, including the requirement of little to no sample preparation and the ability to analyze a wide range of samples.
The ATR process begins by directing a beam...

Reflection of Waves

Reflection of Waves

When a wave travels from one medium to another, it gets reflected at the boundary of the second medium. A common example of this is when a person yells at a distance from a cliff and hears the echo of their voice. The sound waves (longitudinal waves) traveling in the air are reflected from the bounding cliff. Similarly, flipping one end of a string whose other end is tied to a wall causes a pulse (transverse wave) to travel through the string, which gets reflected upon reaching the wall. In...

Small-Signal Analysis of BJT Amplifiers

Small-Signal Analysis of BJT Amplifiers

Small signal analysis is a fundamental approach used in electronics to understand how a Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) amplifier processes signals. In the active region, the BJT is designed for linear amplification. The transistor's behavior under these conditions is governed by its instantaneous base-emitter voltage VBE, a sum of the DC bias VBE, and a small AC signal VBE, resulting in the collector current iC. Here, the collector current has a DC component and an AC component.

$Interference and Diffraction$ 02:18

Interference and Diffraction

Interference is a characteristic phenomenon exhibited by waves. When two electromagnetic waves interact with their peaks and troughs coinciding, a resulting wave with enhanced amplitude is produced. This is known as constructive interference. In this case, the two waves interacting are in phase with each other.

Radiation: Applications

Radiation: Applications

The average temperature of Earth is the subject of much current discussion. Earth is in radiative contact with both the Sun and dark space; it receives almost all its energy from the radiation of the Sun and reflects some of it into outer space. Dark space is very cold, about 3 K, so Earth radiates energy into it. For instance, heat transfer occurs from soil and grasses, the rate of which can be so rapid that frost can occur on clear summer evenings, even in warm latitudes.
The average...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Approaching Single-Photon Pulses.

Physical review letters·2021

Same author

Laser damage helps the eavesdropper in quantum cryptography.

Physical review letters·2014

Same author

A universal setup for active control of a single-photon detector.

The Review of scientific instruments·2014

Same author

Detection of single nano-defects in photonic crystals between crossed polarizers.

Optics express·2014

Same author

Finite-size limitations on Quality factor of guided resonance modes in 2D photonic crystals.

Optics express·2013

Same author

Photonic-crystal membranes for optical detection of single nano-particles, designed for biosensor application.

Optics express·2012

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 27, 2026

Evanescent Field Based Photoacoustics: Optical Property Evaluation at Surfaces

Evanescent Field Based Photoacoustics: Optical Property Evaluation at Surfaces

Published on: July 26, 2016

Total internal reflection and evanescent gain.

Jon Olav Grepstad¹, Johannes Skaar

¹Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway; and University Graduate Center, NO-2027 Kjeller, Norway.

|November 24, 2011

Summary

Evanescent gain may appear during total internal reflection in active low-index media, depending on material properties. Under certain conditions, instabilities are overcome, allowing for evanescent gain in optical systems.

More Related Videos

Fabrication of a Low-Cost, Fiber-Coupled, and Air-Spaced Fabry-Pérot Etalon

Fabrication of a Low-Cost, Fiber-Coupled, and Air-Spaced Fabry-Pérot Etalon

Published on: February 3, 2023

High-Throughput Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence and Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Using a Photonic Chip

High-Throughput Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence and Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Using a Photonic Chip

Published on: November 16, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 27, 2026

Evanescent Field Based Photoacoustics: Optical Property Evaluation at Surfaces

Evanescent Field Based Photoacoustics: Optical Property Evaluation at Surfaces

Published on: July 26, 2016

Fabrication of a Low-Cost, Fiber-Coupled, and Air-Spaced Fabry-Pérot Etalon

Fabrication of a Low-Cost, Fiber-Coupled, and Air-Spaced Fabry-Pérot Etalon

Published on: February 3, 2023

High-Throughput Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence and Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Using a Photonic Chip

High-Throughput Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence and Direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy Using a Photonic Chip

Published on: November 16, 2019

Area of Science:

Optics and Photonics
Electromagnetism
Materials Science

Background:

Total internal reflection (TIR) is a phenomenon occurring at the interface of two media with different refractive indices when light strikes at a large angle of incidence.
Typically, TIR involves light moving from a high-refractive-index medium to a low-index medium.
The behavior of light at the interface when the low-index medium possesses active (gain) properties is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the conditions under which evanescent gain can arise in active low-index media during total internal reflection.
To explore the role of causality and the properties of the permittivity function in determining the presence or absence of evanescent gain.
To analyze instabilities associated with gain media and their impact on evanescent wave propagation.

Main Methods:

Theoretical analysis invoking the fundamental principles of causality.
Examination of the analytic and global properties of the permittivity function for active media.
Investigation of instabilities in systems with infinite transverse dimensions.

Main Results:

Evanescent gain is shown to be dependent on the specific characteristics of the permittivity function of the active medium.
An absolute instability is identified for conventional, weak gain media with infinite transverse dimensions.
Conditions are established under which this instability can be mitigated or eliminated, permitting evanescent gain.

Conclusions:

The appearance of evanescent gain is not guaranteed and is critically linked to the material's optical properties and causality.
Instabilities in active media can prevent evanescent gain, but these can be overcome in specific scenarios.
This research provides a framework for understanding and potentially engineering evanescent gain in optical devices.