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

Standing Waves in a Cavity

Standing Waves in a Cavity

A household microwave and lasers are examples of standing electromagnetic waves in a cavity. When two conducting metal plates are placed parallel at the nodal planes, it creates a cavity where standing waves are formed. The cavity between the two planes is analogous to a stretched string held at the points x = 0 and x = L. Here, the distance 'L' between the two planes must be an integer multiple of half of the wavelength. The wavelengths that satisfy this condition are given by:

Propagation of Waves

Propagation of Waves

When a wave propagates from one medium to another, part of it may get reflected in the first medium, and part of it may get transmitted to the second medium. In such a case, the interface of the two mediums can be considered as a boundary that is neither fixed nor free.
Consider a scenario where a wave propagates from a string of low linear mass density to a string of high linear mass density. In such a case, the reflected wave is out of phase with respect to the incident wave, however the...

$Interference and Diffraction$ 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.

Interference and Superposition of Waves

Interference and Superposition of Waves

When two waves of the same nature occur in the same region simultaneously, they result in interference. Interference of waves implies that the net effect of the waves is the sum of the individual waves' effects. However, it does not imply that the individual waves affect the propagation of other waves.
Interference occurs in mechanical waves, such as sound waves, waves on a string, and surface water waves. Mechanical waves correspond to the physical displacement of particles. Hence,...

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Histomorphometric Evaluation of the Tissue Response to Xenogeneic Extracellular Peritoneal Matrix and Synthetic UltraPro Mesh under Conditions of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection.

Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine·2026

Same author

Third-harmonic generation of ultraviolet light in silicon nitride metasurface: a numerical study of pulse duration dependence.

Optics express·2025

Same author

Machine learning assisted rapid approach for quantitative prediction of biochemical parameters of blood serum with FTIR spectroscopy.

Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy·2024

Same author

Apoptotic Bodies of Cardiomyocytes and Fibroblasts - Regulators of Directed Differentiation of Heart Stem Cells.

Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine·2020

Same author

Multicenter prospective trial of total gastrectomy versus proximal gastrectomy for upper third cT1 gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer : official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association and the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association·2020

Same author

Comparative Evaluation of Translocation of GFP Producing Escherichia coli Strains in Acute Intestinal Obstruction.

Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine·2019

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 20, 2026

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Published on: June 7, 2019

Photonic surface waves on metamaterial interfaces.

O Takayama¹, A A Bogdanov², A V Lavrinenko^1,2

¹Department of Photonics Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Ørsteds Plads, Building 343, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.

Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter : an Institute of Physics Journal

|October 21, 2017

Summary

Optical surface waves (SWs) confine light at interfaces, enabling nanophotonics applications. This review covers SW physics, metamaterial interfaces, and sensing applications in visible and near-infrared ranges.

More Related Videos

Demonstration of Spin-Multiplexed and Direction-Multiplexed All-Dielectric Visible Metaholograms

Demonstration of Spin-Multiplexed and Direction-Multiplexed All-Dielectric Visible Metaholograms

Published on: September 25, 2020

Simulation, Fabrication and Characterization of THz Metamaterial Absorbers

Simulation, Fabrication and Characterization of THz Metamaterial Absorbers

Published on: December 27, 2012

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 20, 2026

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Demonstration of Equal-Intensity Beam Generation by Dielectric Metasurfaces

Published on: June 7, 2019

Demonstration of Spin-Multiplexed and Direction-Multiplexed All-Dielectric Visible Metaholograms

Demonstration of Spin-Multiplexed and Direction-Multiplexed All-Dielectric Visible Metaholograms

Published on: September 25, 2020

Simulation, Fabrication and Characterization of THz Metamaterial Absorbers

Simulation, Fabrication and Characterization of THz Metamaterial Absorbers

Published on: December 27, 2012

Area of Science:

Optics and Photonics
Materials Science
Nanotechnology

Background:

Surface waves (SWs) are light waves confined to interfaces between dissimilar media, with exponentially decaying fields.
Their surface sensitivity and field localization properties are crucial for nanophotonics.
Research has explored diverse SW types across various material and structural platforms.

Purpose of the Study:

To review recent advancements in the physics of optical surface waves.
To provide a broad perspective on SWs, focusing on metamaterial interfaces and bulk media.
To discuss experimental realizations, applications, and characterization methods.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on optical surface waves.
Focus on experimental studies in the visible and near-infrared wavelength ranges.
Discussion of material and structural platforms supporting SWs.

Main Results:

Comprehensive overview of SW physics at metamaterial interfaces and in bulk media.
Highlighting experimental progress and diverse applications.
Addressing excitation and characterization techniques for SWs.

Conclusions:

Optical surface waves are fundamental to nanophotonics, with significant potential in sensing.
Metamaterial interfaces offer novel platforms for advanced SW manipulation.
Continued research promises expanded applications in chemical and biological sensing.