Eur. Phys. J. D (2013) 67: 168
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2013-40132-4

Regular Article

Resonance, multiple diffusion and critical tunneling for Gaussian lasers

Department of Applied Mathematics, State University of Campinas, 13083-970 São Paulo, Brazil

^a e-mail: deleo@ime.unicamp.br

Received: 8 March 2013
Received in final form: 15 May 2013
Published online: 1 August 2013

Abstract

We present a detailed study of the Gaussian laser propagation through a dielectric system composed by two right angle prisms. We investigate the transition between the spatial coherence limit, which exhibits wave-like properties and for which the resonance phenomenon can be seen, and the decoherence limit, which exhibits particle-like properties and for which the multiple diffusion occurs. We also analyze the tunneling at critical angles. In our numerical analysis, we shall use BK7 and Fused Silica prisms and a Gaussian He-Ne laser with a wavelength of 632.8   nm and beam waists of 2 mm and 200 μm.