title: Conditions for admittance-matched tunneling through symmetric metal-dielectric stacks.
abstract: We used the theory of potential transmittance to derive a general expression for reflection-less tunneling through a periodic stack with a dielectric-metal-dielectric unit cell. For normal-incidence from air, the theory shows that only a specific (and typically impractically large) dielectric index can enable a perfect admittance match. For off-normal incidence of TE-polarized light, an admittance match is possible at a specific angle that depends on the index of the ambient and dielectric media and the thickness and index of the metal. For TM-polarized light, admittance matching is possible within the evanescent-wave range (i.e. for tunneling mediated by surface plasmons). The results provide insight for research on transparent metals and superlenses.
authors.affiliation: ECE Department, University of Alberta, 9107-116 St. NW, Edmonton, Alberts, Canada. rdecorby@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: DeCorby