Experimental evidence of enhanced broadband transmission in disordered systems with mirror symmetry

Abstract: We demonstrate in microwave measurements the broadband enhancement of transmission through an opaque barrier due to mirror symmetry. This enhancement relies on constructive interference between mirror scattering paths resulting from strong internal reflections at the left and right interfaces of a multichannel cavity. We observe a strong sensitivity of the conductance to a shift of the barrier from the center of the cavity. Remarkably, the impact of mirror symmetry can be further increased by tuning the degree of disorder within the cavity. We report an additional enhancement of the conductance found by symmetrically placing randomly located scatterers. Our results illuminate the impact of symmetry and disorder correlation on transmission through complex systems.