The existence of resonant enhanced transmission and collimation of light waves by subwavelength slits in metal films [for example, see T.W. Ebbesen et al., Nature (London) 391, 667 (1998) and H.J. Lezec et al., Science, 297, 820 (2002)] leads to the basic question: Can a light be enhanced and simultaneously localized in space and time by a subwavelength slit? To address this question, the spatial distribution of the energy flux of an ultrashort (femtosecond) wave-packet diffracted by a subwavelength (nanometer-size) slit was analyzed by using the conventional approach based on the Neerhoff and Mur solution of Maxwell's equations. The results show that a light can be enhanced by orders of magnitude and simultaneously localized in the near-field diffraction zone at the nm- and fs-scales. Possible applications in nanophotonics are discussed.
y coating a cover layer with metallization of cut wire array, the transmission of transverse electric waves (TE; the electric field is parallel to the slits) through subwavelength slits in a thin metallic film is significantly enhanced. An 800-fold enhanced transmission is obtained compared to the case without the cut wires. It is demonstrated that a TE incident wave is highly confined by the cut wires due to the excitation of the electric dipole-like resonance, and then effectively squeezed into and through the subwavelength slits.
We analytically describe light transmission through a single subwavelength slit in a thin perfect electric conductor screen for the incident polarization being perpendicular to the slit, and derive simple, yet accurate, expressions for the average electric field in the slit and the transmission efficiency. The analytic results are consistent with full-wave numerical calculations, and demonstrate that slits of widths ~100nm in real metals may feature non-resonant (i.e., broadband) field enhancements of ~100 and transmission efficiency of ~10 at infrared or terahertz frequencies, with the associ…
We analyze, by means of numerical simulations, transmission enhancements through sub- wavelength slits due to the presence of sets of plasmonic nanocylinders, placed near the exit of these apertures. Further, we extend this study to photonic crystals of dipolar plasmonic particles in front of an array of extraordinarily transmitting slits practiced in a metallic slab.
The existence of resonant enhanced transmission and collimation of light waves by subwavelength slits in metal films [for example, see T.W. Ebbesen et al., Nature (London) 391, 667 (1998) and H.J. Lezec et al., Science, 297, 820 (2002)] leads to the basic question: Can a light pulse be enhanced and simultaneously localized in space and time by a subwavelength slit? To address this question, the spatial distribution of the energy flux of an ultrashort (femtosecond) wave-packet diffracted by a subwavelength (nanometer-size) slit was analyzed by using the conventional approach based on the Neerho…
Measurement of the transmitted intensity from a coherent monomode light source through a series of subwavelength slit arrays in Ag films, with varying array pitch and number of slits, demonstrate enhancement (suppression) by as much as a factor of 6 (9) when normalized to that of an isolated slit. Pronounced minima in the transmitted intensity were observed at array pitches corresponding to lambda_SPP, 2lambda_SPP, and 3lambda_SPP where lambda_SPP is the wavelength of the surface plasmon polariton (SPP). Increasing the number of slits to more than four does not increase appreciably the per-sli…
We present an analytical model of the resonantly enhanced transmission of light through a subwavelength nm-size slit in a thick metal film. The simple formulae for the transmitted electromagnetic fields and the transmission coefficient are derived by using the narrow-slit approximation and the Green's function formalism for the solution of Maxwell's equations. The resonance wavelengths are in agreement with the semi-analytical model [Y. Takakura, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5601 (2001)], which solves the wave equations by using the Rayleigh field expansion. Our formulae, however, show great resonant …
The backward scattering of TM-polarized light by a two-side-open subwavelength slit in a metal film is analyzed. We show that the reflection coefficient versus wavelength possesses a Fabry-Perot-like dependence that is similar to the anomalous behavior of transmission reported in the study [Y. Takakura, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{86}, 5601 (2001)]. The open slit totally reflects the light at the near-to-resonance wavelengths. In addition, we show that the interference of incident and resonantly backward-scattered light produces in the near-field diffraction zone a spatially localized wave whose …
In this Letter, we study the transmission response of microwaves through two identical metallic plates machined with ultranarrow slit arrays. The measured and calculated transmission spectra consistently display a striking transmission peak at wavelength much larger than any characteristic length of the structure (e.g., about twenty-fold of the lattice period), which can not be directly explained by the existing mechanisms. Both the LC-circuit-based microscopic picture and the effective-medium-based macroscopic model are established to capture the essential physics behind such unexpected reson…
We discuss optical forces exerted on particles, either dielectric or metallic, near a subwavelength slit illuminated by a photonic nanojet. We compare those cases in which the Mie resonances are or are not excited. The configurations on study are 2D, hence those particles are infinite cylinders and, in order to obtain extraordinary transmission, the illuminating beam is p-polarized. We show the different effects of these particle resonances on the optical forces: while whispering gallery modes under those illumination conditions weaken the force strength, this latter is enhanced by localized p…
We apply the technique of far-field interferometry to measure the properties of surface waves generated by two-dimensional (2D) single subwavelength slit-groove structures on gold films. The effective surface index of refraction measured for the surface wave propagating over a distance of more than 12 microns is determined to be 1.016 with a measurement uncertainty of 0.004, to within experimental uncertainty of the expected bound surface plasmon-polariton (SPP) value for a Au/Air interface of 1.018. We compare these measurements to finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) numerical simulations of…
We study, and illustrate with numerical calculations, transmission enhancement by subwavelength 2D slits due to the dominant role played by the excitation of the eigenmodes of plasmonic cylinders when they are placed at the aperture entrance; and also due to reinforced and highly localized energy in the slit as a consequence of the formation of a nanojet. We show that, providing the illumination is chosen such that an aperture transmitting eigenmode is generated, the phenomenon is independent of whether or not the slit alone produces extraordinary transmission; although in the former case this…
In this paper, the scattering/transmission inside a step-modulated subwavelength metal slit is investigated in detail. We firstly investigate the scattering in a junction structure by two types of structural changes. The variation of transmission and reflection coefficients depending on structural parameters are analyzed. Then a multi-mode multi-reflection model based on ray theory is proposed to illustrate the transmission in the step-modulated slit explicitly. The key parts of this model are the multi-mode excitation and the superposition procedure of the scatterings from all possible modes,…
We theoretically investigate the transmission of electromagnetic radiation through a metal plate with a zero-$ε$ metamaterial slit, where the permittivity tends towards zero over a given bandwidth. Our analytic results demonstrate that the transmission coefficient can be substantial for a broad range of slit geometries, including subwavelength widths that are many wavelengths long. This novel resonant effect has features quite unlike the Fabry-Pérot-like resonances that have been observed in conductors with deep channels. We further reveal that these high impedance ultranarrow zero-$ε$ channel…
Phase resonances in transmission compound structures with subwavelength slits produce sharp dips in the transmission response. For all equal slits, the wavelengths of these sharp transmission minima can be varied by changing the width or the length of all the slits. In this paper we show that the width of the dip, i.e., the frequency range of minimum transmittance, can be controlled by making at least one slit different from the rest within a compound unit cell. In particular, we investigate the effect that a change in the dielectric filling, or in the length of a single slit produces in the t…
We obtain in TM polarization an analytical expression of the scattering matrix of one infinitely conducting metallic lamellar grating with subwavelength slits. The theory is based on the Monomode Modal Method which consists in considering only one propagative mode in grating slits. Two expressions are exposed. The first one comes directly from the theory equations and the second one clearly reveals the Airy-like form of the scattering matrix terms. The theory is validated on a multi-grating object and the stability of the numerical results are shown at the same time. This work provides a basic…
For a narrow slit structure backed by a conducting strip which is taken as a representative example of an aperture-body resonance (ABR) problem, the transmission resonance condition (i.e., condition for maximum power transmission) and the transmission width (i.e., normalized maximum transmitted power through the slit) are found to be the same as those for narrow slit coupling problem in a thick conducting screen, which is designated as a transmission-cavity resonance (TCR) problem. From a viewpoint of equivalent circuit representation for the transmission resonance condition and the funneling …
We present a concrete picture of spoof surface plasmons (SSPs) combined with cavity resonance to clarify the basic mechanism underlying extraordinary light transmission through metal films with subwavelength slits or holes. This picture may indicate a general mechanism of metallic nanostructure optics: When light is incident on a non-planar conducting surface, the free electrons cannot move homogeneously in response to the incident electric field, i.e., their movement can be impeded at the rough parts, forming inhomogeneous charge distributions. The oscillating charges/dipoles then emit photon…
In the framework of the hydrodynamic model describing the response of electrons in a metal, we show that arrays of very narrow and shallow metallic slits have an optical response that is influenced by the spatial dispersion in metals arising from the repulsive interaction between electrons. As a simple Fabry-Perot model is not accurate enough to describe the structure's behavior, we propose to consider the slits as generalized cavities with two modes, one being propagative and the other evanescent. This very general model allows to conclude that the impact of spatial dispersion on the propagat…
This paper proposes a novel, rigorous and simple Fourier-transformation approach to study resonances in a perfectly conducting slab with finite number of subwavelength slits of width $h\ll 1$. Since regions outside the slits are variable separated, by Fourier transforming the governing equation, we could express field in the outer regions in terms of field derivatives on the aperture. Next, in each slit where variable separation is still available, wave field could be expressed as a Fourier series in terms of a countable basis functions with unknown Fourier coefficients. Finally, by matching f…
Transmission spectra of metallic films or membranes perforated by arrays of subwavelength slits or holes have been widely interpreted as resonance absorption by surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Alternative interpretations involving evanescent waves diffracted on the surface have also been proposed. These two approaches lead to divergent predictions for some surface wave properties. Using far-field interferometry, we have carried out a series of measurements on elementary one-dimensional (1-D) subwavelength structures with the aim of testing key properties of the surface waves and comparing t…
We theoretically investigate second harmonic generation that originates from the nonlinear, magnetic Lorentz force term from single and multiple apertures carved on thick, opaque metal substrates. The linear transmission properties of apertures on metal substrates have been previously studied in the context of the extraordinary transmission of light. The transmission process is driven by a number of physical mechanisms, whose characteristics and relative importance depend on the thickness of the metallic substrate, slit size, and slit separation. In this work we show that a combination of cavi…
One-dimensional light harvesting structures illuminated by a conventional lens are studied in this paper. Our theoretical study shows that high transmission efficiencies are obtained when the structure is placed near the focal plane of the lens. The considered structure is a finite slit-groove array (SGA) with a given number of grooves that are symmetrically distributed with respect to a central slit. The SGA is nano-patterned on an opaque metallic film. It is found that a total transmittance of 80% is achieved even for a single slit when (i) Fabry-Perot like modes are excited inside the slit …
A type of tunable plasmonic lens with nanoslits is proposed for subwavelength imaging in the far field at different wavelengths. The nanoslits array in the plasmonic lens, which have constant depths but varying widths, could generate desired optical phase retardations based on the particular propagation property of the Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs) in the metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) slit waveguides. We theoretically and numerically demonstrate the tunability of a single plasmonic lens for subwavelength imaging (full width at half maximum, 0.37 ~0.47) by adjusting the surrounding dielectri…
The fundamental guided dispersion characteristics of guided light in a subwavelength dielectric slit channel embedded by two different plasmonic metals are investigated when varying the gap width. As a result, an overall and salient picture of the guided dispersion characteristics is obtained over a wide spectrum range below and above the plasma frequencies of the two different plasmonic metals, which is important preliminary information for analyzing this type of subwavelength waveguide. In particular, the effects of using two different metals on the guided mode dispersions are emphasized in …
Diffraction is a fundamental property of light propagation. Owing to this phenomenon,light diffracts out in all directions when it passes through a subwavelength slit.This imposes a fundamental limit on the transverse size of a light beam at a given distance from the aperture. We show that a subwavelength-sized beam propagating without diffractive broadening can be produced in free space by the constructive interference of multiple beams of a Fresnel source of the respective high-refraction-index waveguide. Moreover, it is shown that such a source can be constructed not only for continuous wav…
Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to analyse the physical-chemical surface properties of subwavlength structured silver films and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical simulations of the optical response of these structures to plane-wave excitation, we report on the origin and nature of the persistent surface waves generated by a single slit-groove motif and recently measured by far-field optical interferometry. The surface analysis shows that the silver films are free of detectable oxide or sulfide contaminants, and the numerical simulations show very good agreement with t…
In the last decade, metamaterials-based superlenses, with a resolution below Abbe's diffraction limit, have emerged. To obtain a rough estimate of the resolution of such superlenses, imaging of two subwavelength slits, separated by a subwavelength gap \textit{d} is typically performed. The resolution $Δ$ of the lens corresponds to the minimum possible gap $d_{min}$ for which a distinct image of the two slits can be resolved ($Δ\sim d_{min}$). In this letter, we present a more quantitative estimate of the resolution of manufactured lenses by fitting analytical near-field image profiles, obtaine…
Recent numerical studies have demonstrated the possibility of achieving substantial enhancements in the transmission of transverse-electric-polarized electromagnetic fields through subwavelength slits in a thin metallic screen by placing single or paired metallic cut-wire arrays at a close distance from the screen. In this Letter, we report on the first experimental evidence of such extraordinary transmission phenomena, via microwave (X/Ku-band) measurements on printed-circuit-board prototypes. Experimental results agree very well with full-wave numerical predictions, and indicate an intrinsic…
We show that a physical mechanism responsible for the enhanced transmission and reflection of femtosecond pulses by a single subwavelength nanoslit in a thick metallic film is the Fabry-Perot-like resonant excitation of stationary, quasistationary and nonstationary waves inside the slit, which leads to the field enhancement inside and around the slit. The mechanism is universal for any pulse-scatter system, which supports the stationary resonances. We point out that there is a pulse duration limit below which the slit does not support the intraslit resonance.
In this work, we present an in-depth experimental and numerical study of the short-range THz communications links that use subwavelength dielectric fibers for information transmission and define main challenges and tradeoffs in the link implementation. Particularly, we use air or foam-cladded polypropylene-core subwavelength dielectric THz fibers of various diameters (0.57-1.75 mm) to study link performance as a function of the link length of up to ~10 m, and data bitrates of up to 6 Gbps at the carrier frequency of 128 GHz (2.34 mm wavelength). We find that depending on the fiber diameter, th…
One-dimensional (1D) subwavelength corrugated metal structures has been described to support spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Here we demonstrate that a modulated 1D subwavelength corrugated metal structure can convert spoof SPPs to propagating waves. The structure is fed at the center through a slit with a connected waveguide on the input side. The subwavelength corrugated metal structure on the output surface is regarded as metasurface and modulated periodically to realize the leaky-wave radiation at the broadside. The surface impedance of the corrugated metal structure is modulated …
Integration of the next generation of photonic structures with electronic and optical on-chip components requires the development of effective methods for confining and controlling light in subwavelength volumes. Several techniques enabling light coupling to sub-wavelength objects have recently been proposed, including grating-, and composite-based solutions. However, experi-mental realization of these couplers involves complex fabrication with \sim 10nm resolution in three dimensions. One promising alternative to complex coupling structures involves materials with vanishingly small dielectric…
In this paper we describe a way to achieve the extraordinary transmission regime from sub-wavelength slits carved on semiconductor substrates. Unlike metals, the dielectric permittivity of typical semiconductors like GaAs or GaP is negative beginning in the extreme UV range (lambda <= 270nm). We show that the metal-like response of bulk semiconductors exhibits surface plasmon waves that lead to extraordinary transmission in the UV and soft X-ray ranges. The importance of realistic material response versus perfect conductors is also discussed. These findings may be important in high resolution …
In this letter, we study the scattering of light by a single subwavelength slit in a metal screen. In contrast to previous theoretical works, we provide a microscopic description of the scattering process by emphasizing the generation of surface plasmons at the slit apertures. The analysis is supported by a rigorous formalism based on a normal-mode-decomposition technique and by a semi-analytical model which provides accurate formulae for the plasmonic generation strengths. The generation is shown to be fairly efficient for metals with a low conductivity, like gold in the visible regime. Verif…
Resonant transmission of light is a surface-wave assisted phenomenon that enables funneling light through subwavelength apertures milled in otherwise opaque metallic screens. In this work, we introduce a deep learning approach to efficiently compute and design the optical response of a single subwavelength slit perforated in a metallic screen and surrounded by periodic arrangements of indentations. First, we show that a semi-analytical framework based on a coupled-mode theory formalism is a robust and efficient method to generate the large training datasets required in the proposed approach. S…
We study the problem of resonant extraordinary transmission of electromagnetic and acoustic waves through subwavelength slits in an infinite plate, whose thickness is close to a half-multiple of the wavelength. We build on the matched-asymptotics analysis of Holley & Schnitzer (Wave Motion, 91 102381, 2019), who considered a single-slit configuration assuming an idealised formulation where dissipation is neglected and the electromagnetic and acoustic problems are analogous. We here extend that theory to include thin dissipative boundary layers associated with finite conductivity of the plate i…
Perfect lensing using negative refractive index materials and radiationless electromagnetic interference both provide extreme subwavelength focusing by "amplifying" evanescent wave components that are usually lost. This paper provides a relation between the achievable focus spot size, the amplification available and the focal length. This may be considered as a revised version of Abbe's diffraction limit for focusing systems that have evanescent wave amplification. It is useful in comparing the amplification achieved in various subwavelength focusing implementations, as well as determining whe…
Transmission of light through an optically ultrathin metal film with a thickness comparable to its skin depth is significant. We demonstrate experimentally nearly-zero transmission of light through a film periodically modulated by a one-dimensional array of subwavelength slits. The suppressed optical transmission is due to the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons and the zero-transmission phenomenon is strongly dependent on the polarization of the incident wave.
We show that, a metasurface composed of subwavelength metallic slit array embedded in an asymmetric environment can exhibit either extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) or extraordinary optical diffraction (EOD). By employing an analytical model expansion method and the diffraction order chart in k-vector space, we found that the resonance decaying pathway of the local slit cavity mode can be tuned to either 0th or -1st diffraction order by changing the parallel wavevector, which gives rise to enhanced 0th transmission (EOT) of the structure for small incident angles, and enhanced -1st diff…
This paper has presented inversely determining the resonant configuration of the bilateral nanostructures for periodic metallic slits with extraordinary optical transmission performance. The topology optimization approach is utilized to implement the inverse design procedure. Several geometrical configurations of the bilateral nanostructures are derived for periodic metallic slits. The resonant performance of the derived nanostructures are demonstrated by the transmission spectra, where the transmission peak is presented at the specified wavelength in the inverse design procedure. This provide…
The purpose of this comment is first to correct a misapprehension of the role played by composite wave diffraction on surface-wave generation at subwavelength structures and second to point out that periodic Bloch structures are unnecessary for the efficient production of the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) guided mode either as traveling or standing waves. Guided surface waves originate from simple slit or groove edges illuminated under normal incidence, and one-dimensional (1-D) surface cavities from these standing waves are easily realized.
Both dynamic and static approaches are proposed and investigated for controlling the optical phase of a p-polarized light wave that is guided through a surface-patterned metallic structure with subwavelength features. For dynamic control, field-induced transparency (FIT) from photo-excited electrons in a slit-embedded atomic system show up within a narrow frequency window for modulating the intensity of focused transmitted light in the near-field region. Based on the electromagnetic coupling, this is facilitated by surface plasmons between the two FIT-atom embedded slits. For static control, t…
Synthetic chiral light enables ultrafast and highly efficient imaging of molecular chirality. Unlike standard circularly polarized light, the handedness of synthetic chiral light does not rely on the spatial structure of the light field: it is encoded locally, in the chiral trajectory that the tip of the electric-field vector draws in time, at each point in space. Being locally chiral, already within the electric-dipole approximation, synthetic chiral light is a highly efficient chiral photonic reagent. Synthetic chiral light that is locally and globally chiral allows us to selectively quench …
