Evanescent Field

In electromagnetics, an evanescent field, or evanescent wave, is an oscillating electric and/or magnetic field that does not propagate as an electromagnetic wave but whose energy is spatially concentrated in the vicinity of the source (oscillating charges and currents). Even when there is a propagating electromagnetic wave produced (e.g., by a transmitting antenna), one can still identify as an evanescent field the component of the electric or magnetic field that cannot be attributed to the propagating wave observed at a distance of many wavelengths (such as the far field of a transmitting antenna).

A hallmark of an evanescent field is that there is no net energy flow in that region. Since the net flow of electromagnetic energy is given by the average Poynting vector, this means that the Poynting vector in these regions, as averaged over a complete oscillation cycle, is zero.

Use of the term

In many cases one cannot simply say that a field is or is not "evanescent": Having Poynting vector average to zero in some direction (or all directions).
In most cases where they exist, evanescent fields are simply thought of and referred to the same as all other electric or magnetic fields involved, without any special recognition of those fields' evanescence. The term's use is mostly limited to distinguishing a part of a field or solution in those cases where one might only expect the fields of a propagating wave.

For instance, in the illustration at the top of the article, energy is indeed carried in the horizontal direction. However, in the vertical direction, the field strength drops off exponentially with increasing distance above the surface. This leaves most of the field concentrated in a thin boundary layer very close to the interface; for that reason, it is referred to as a '' surface wave''. However, despite energy flowing horizontally, along the vertical there is ''no'' net propagation of energy ''away'' from (or toward) the surface, so that one could properly describe the field as being "evanescent in the vertical direction". This is one example of the context dependence of the term.

Everyday electronic devices and electrical appliances are surrounded by large fields which are evanescent; their operation involves alternating voltages (producing an electric field between them) and alternating currents (producing a magnetic field around them) which are expected to only carry power along internal wires, but not to the outsides of the devices. Even though the term "evanescent" is not mentioned in this ordinary context, the appliances' designers still may be concerned with ''maintaining'' evanescence, in order to prevent or limit production of a propagating electromagnetic wave, would lead to radiation loss, since a propagating wave "steals" its power from the circuitry or donates unwanted interference.

The term "evanescent field" ''does'' arise in various contexts where a propagating electromagnetic wave is involved (even if confined). The term then differentiates electromagnetic field components that accompany the propagating wave, but which do not themselves propagate. In other, similar cases, where a propagating electromagnetic wave would normally be expected (such as light refracted at the interface between glass and air), the term is invoked to describe that part of the field where the wave is suppressed (such as light traveling through glass, impinging on a glass-to-air interface but beyond the critical angle).

Although all electromagnetic fields are classically governed according to Maxwell's equations, different technologies or problems have certain types of expected solutions, and when the primary solutions involve wave propagation the term ''evanescent'' is frequently applied to field components or solutions which do not share that property.

For instance, the propagation constant of a hollow metal waveguide is a strong function of frequency (a so-called dispersion relation). Below a certain frequency (the cut-off frequency) the propagation constant becomes an imaginary number. A solution to the wave equation having an imaginary wavenumber does ''not'' propagate as a wave but falls off exponentially, so the field excited at that lower frequency is considered evanescent. It can also be simply said that propagation is "disallowed" for that frequency.

The formal solution to the wave equation can describe modes having an identical form, but the change of the propagation constant from real to imaginary as the frequency drops below the cut-off frequency totally changes the physical nature of the result. The solution may be described as a "cut-off mode" or an "evanescent mode"; while a different author will just state that no such mode exists. Since the evanescent field corresponding to the mode was computed as a solution to the wave equation, it is often discussed as being an "evanescent wave" even though its properties (such as carrying no energy) are inconsistent with the definition of wave.

Although this article concentrates on electromagnetics, the term ''evanescent'' is used similarly in fields such as acoustics and quantum mechanics, where the wave equation arises from the physics involved. In these cases, solutions to the wave equation resulting in imaginary propagation constants are likewise called "evanescent", and have the essential property that no net energy is transferred, even though there is a non-zero field.

Evanescent wave applications

In optics and acoustics, evanescent waves are formed when waves traveling in a medium undergo total internal reflection at its boundary because they strike it at an angle greater than the so-called '' critical angle''. The physical explanation for the existence of the evanescent wave is that the electric and magnetic fields (or pressure gradients, in the case of acoustical waves) cannot be discontinuous at a boundary, as would be the case if there was no evanescent wave field. In quantum mechanics, the physical explanation is exactly analogous—the Schrödinger wave-function representing particle motion normal to the boundary cannot be discontinuous at the boundary.

Electromagnetic evanescent waves have been used to exert optical radiation pressure on small particles to trap them for experimentation, or to cool them to very low temperatures, and to illuminate very small objects such as biological cells or single protein and DNA molecules for microscopy (as in the total internal reflection fluorescence microscope). The evanescent wave from an optical fiber can be used in a gas sensor, and evanescent waves figure in the infrared spectroscopy technique known as attenuated total reflectance.

In electrical engineering, evanescent waves are found in the near-field region within one third of a wavelength of any radio antenna. During normal operation, an antenna emits electromagnetic fields into the surrounding nearfield region, and a portion of the field energy is reabsorbed, while the remainder is radiated as EM waves.

Recently, a graphene-based Bragg grating (one-dimensional photonic crystal) has been fabricated and demonstrated its competence for excitation of surface electromagnetic waves in the periodic structure using a prism coupling technique.

In quantum mechanics, the evanescent-wave solutions of the Schrödinger equation give rise to the phenomenon of wave-mechanical tunneling.

In microscopy, systems that capture the information contained in evanescent waves can be used to create super-resolution images. Matter radiates both propagating and evanescent electromagnetic waves. Conventional optical systems capture only the information in the propagating waves and hence are subject to the diffraction limit. Systems that capture the information contained in evanescent waves, such as the superlens and near field scanning optical microscopy, can overcome the diffraction limit; however these systems are then limited by the system's ability to accurately capture the evanescent waves. The limitation on their resolution is given by
: $k \propto \frac \ln \frac,$

where $k$ is the maximal wave vector that can be resolved, $d$ is the distance between the object and the sensor, and $\delta$ is a measure of the quality of the sensor.

More generally, practical applications of evanescent waves can be classified as (1) those in which the energy associated with the wave is used to excite some other phenomenon within the region of space where the original traveling wave becomes evanescent (