RESONANT-TUNNELING OF ELECTROMAGNETIC-WAVES THROUGH POLARITON GAPS

We consider resonance tunneling of electromagnetic waves through an op tical barrier formed by a stop band between lower and upper polariton branches. We show that the tunneling through this kind of barrier is q ualitatively different from tunneling through other optical barriers a s well as from the quantum-mechanical tunneling through a rectangular barrier. We find that the width of the resonance maximum of the transm ission coefficient tends sharply to zero as the frequency approaches t he lower boundary of the stop band. Resonance transmission peaks give rise to new photonic bands inside the polariton stop band in a periodi c array of the barriers.