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Maxwell2D: Frustrated total internal reflection

Dielectric constant distribution

Consider the same set-up as with total internal reflection, but introducing a new medium a distance of order a wavelength away from the original interface, so before the evanescent wave has decayed away. In this case, there is still some propagation across the gap, leading to evanescent wave coupling.
Wikipedia links: Total internal reflection, Evanescent wave

Electric field animation

Time-averaged Poynting vector

This is an animation of the component of the electric field out of the plane of the page.The direction in which energy is travelling at any instant is proportional to the cross product of the electric and magnetic fields, known as the Poynting vector. The arrows show the direction of the Poynting vector averaged over the simulation, while the colours show its strength.