Rayleigh scattering reveals light propagation in optical nanfibers
Optical fibers are hair-like threads of glass used to guide light. Fibers of exceptional purity have proved an excellent way of sending information over long distances and are the foundation of modern telecommunication systems. Transmission relies on what's called total internal reflection, wherein the light propagates by effectively bouncing back and forth off of the fiber's internal surface. Though the word "total" implies light remains entirely trapped in the fiber, the laws of physics dictate that some of the light, in the form of what's called an evanescent field, also exists outside of the fiber. In telecommunications, the fiber core is more than ten times larger than the wavelength of light passing through. In this case, the evanescent fields are weak and vanish rapidly away from the fiber. Nanofibers have a diameter smaller than the wavelength of the guided light. Here, all of the light field cannot fit inside of...