| This thesis considers how an electromagnetic field propagates through a dispersive linear dielectric in the case when the field is turned on suddenly. It has been predicted nearly 100 years ago that the point in the waveform where the field first turns on (the front) propagates precisely at the speed of light in vacuum. Furthermore, it is predicted that distinct wave-packets develop after the front, but before the arrival of the main part of the field (the main signal). These wave-packets are known as optical precursors. It was believed that precursors are an ultra-fast phenomena, persisting only for a few optical cycles, and that they have an exceedingly small amplitude.; I describe a method to increase the duration of optical precursors into the nanosecond range using a dielectric with a narrow resonance. I also show how to increase the precursor amplitude by tuning the carrier frequency of the field near the resonance frequency of the oscillators making up the dielectric medium. The field emerging from the dielectric consists of a several-nanosecond-long spike occurring immediately after the front with near 100% transmission, which subsequently decays to a constant value expected from Beer's Law of absorption. I demonstrate, using a modern asymptotic theory, that the spike consists of both the Sommerfeld and Brillouin precursors. Thus, my measurement is the first direct observation of optical precursors. The precursor research might be useful for imaging applications requiring penetrating optical radiation, such as in biological systems, or in optical communication systems.; While the asymptotic theory explains qualitatively my observations, I find that there are large quantitative disagreements. I hypothesize that these errors are due to the fact that I use a weakly-dispersive narrow-resonance medium for which this theory has never been tested. I suggest empirical fixes to the theory by comparison to my data. I also compare the asymptotic theory and data to a second theory that is known to describe well my experimental conditions, but was believed by some researchers not to predict optical precursors. I demonstrate that this belief is incorrect. |
