A theoretical re-examination of giant transmission of light through a metallic nano-slit surrounded with periodic grooves

• We show that the slit-to-groove distance for a maximal transmission through the nano-slit surrounded with periodic grooves cannot be predicted by the theory of constructive interference between the groove-generated surface plasmon wave (SPW) and the incident wave. A clear physical explanation is given for the dependence of the transmission on the slit-to-groove distance. It is shown that the influence to the transmission comes from three parts: the groove-generated SPW, the incident wave and the nano-slit-generated SPW. The groove-generated SPW is the main factor determining the local field distribution around the nano-slit opening. The influence of the incident wave is very weak when strong SPW is generated on the input surface by many periods of deep grooves. The nano-slit-generated SPW can also be considered as a disturbance to the light distribution on the input surface.

Keyword

evanescent-wave model

subwavelength hole arrays

optical-transmission

apertures

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)