A comprehensive microscopic model of the extraordinary optical transmission

Haitao Liu (1) , Philippe Lalanne (2)

1 Key Laboratory of Opto-electronic Information Science and Technology
2 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Naphel

As shown in a recent letter [Nature 452, 728 (2008)] with a microscopic model, the phenomenon of the extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) is intrinsically due to two distinct surface waves: the surface plasmon polariton and the quasi-cylindrical wave (quasi-CW) that efficiently funnel light into the hole aperture at resonance. Here we present a comprehensive microscopic model of the EOT that takes into account the two surface waves. The model preserves the desirable physical insight of the previous approach, but since it additionally takes into account the quasi-CWs, it provides highly accurate predictions over a much broader spectral range, from visible to microwave radiation. The net outcome is a complete understanding of many aspects of the EOT and especially of the role of the metal conductivity that has largely puzzled the initial interpretations. We believe that the main conclusions of the present analysis may be applied to many Wood-type surface resonances on metallic surfaces

Domains: Optics / Photonic; Optics [physics.optics]

Haitao Liu, Philippe Lalanne. A comprehensive microscopic model of the extraordinary optical transmission. Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics and image science, 2010, 27, pp.2542-2550. ⟨hal-00570639⟩