Unusual photon tunneling in the presence of a layer with a negative refractive index

Recent experiments give evidence of a negative refractive index at microwave frequencies in a microstructured material. This discovery may allow some unique features associated with negative- refraction materials to be observed and applied. This letter describes the calculated results for photon tunneling via evanescent fields in the presence of a layer of negative-refraction material, also known as a left-handed material (LHM) in contrast to the conventional right-handed materials (RHMs). We show that photons may tunnel through a much greater distance when a LHM that has the same magnitudes of refractive index, relative permeability, and thickness as those of the RHM (which could also be air or vacuum) is included between two semi-infinite media. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.