Evanescent waves outside optical resonators

Michael White

University of Nottingham, School of Mathematical Sciences,Nottingham, UK

A WKB approximation of the evanescent wave outside an optical resonator requires that we can extend the underlying ray family to complex coordinates. In generic resonators, however natural boundaries prevent us from doing so indefinitely. It is shown how this feature forms limitations on our ability to calculate the exterior wave for cavities which are weakly deformed from the circular case.

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