Near-Field Distribution of Optical Transmission of Periodic Subwavelength Holes in a Metal Film

Abstract

Optical transmission of a two-dimensional array of subwavelength holes in a metal film has been numerically studied using a differential method. Transmission spectra have been calculated showing a significant increase of the transmission in certain spectral ranges corresponding to the excitation of the surface polariton Bloch waves on a metal surface with a periodic hole structure. Under the enhanced transmission conditions, the near-field distribution of the transmitted light reveals an intensity enhancement greater than 2 orders of magnitude in localized ( approximately 40 nm) spots resulting from the interference of the surface polaritons Bragg scattered by the holes in an array.

Surface-Plasmon-Polariton Assisted Diffraction in Periodic Subwavelength Holes of Metal Films with Reduced Interplane Coupling

“…They can be excited if the incident light has a component of the electric field parallel to their propagation direction [17]. For the fourfold degenerate (±1,0) and (0,±1) SPP modes, only (0,±1) modes can be excited under TE-polarized incident light.…”

Negative Role of Surface Plasmons in the Transmission of Metallic Gratings with Very Narrow Slits

“…This surprising discovery has attracted much interest in both the physics [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and the potential numerous applications [10][11][12] in optics and photonics. With the exception of the work by Treacy [3], it is generally admitted that the extraordinary transmission is mainly due to the excitation of coupled surface plasmons (SP) on the upper and lower interfaces of the metal grating for twodimensional [1,[7][8][9] and one-dimensional structures [4][5][6][7].…”

Strong Modification of the Nonlinear Optical Response of Metallic Subwavelength Hole Arrays

“…A popular example of multiple nanostructures acting together is a subwavelength hole array which exhibits extraordinary optical transmission [6] in the linear regime. Calculations indicate that the local field enhancement associated with the transmission through the holes is exceptionally large [7]. Blair and co-workers showed that second-harmonics generation (SHG) on a hole array is possible [8].…”