Photon tunneling and mode selection due to the absorptive layers

Compared with the well-known electron coherent tunneling phenomenon, the photonic tunneling or mode selection mechanism in a structure with multiple absorptive layers are investigated. Due to the energy loss in the absorptive layers, the photon cannot pass through these barriers with 100% transmission as its electron counterpart. However, it is showed that some peaks appear in the transmission spectrum due to the coherent interference. It is also found that for one kind of transmission peaks, their optical fields form a standing wave pattern along the propagation direction that minimizes the optical loss. The possibility to apply this phenomenon in the optical filter and amplifier design is discussed.