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“Resonant transmission through sub-wavelength holes in thick metal films”

Jorge Bravo-Abad

Research Laboratory of Electronics and Physics Department, MIT

Abstract

Extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) has been extensively studied since it was first reported in 1998 [1], owing to both its fundamental implications and its technological potential in diverse fields ranging from data storage to bio-photonics. However, despite its importance to understand some of the main features observed in EOT experiments, the effects of the finite size of the samples on extraordinary transmission properties have not been considered until very recently.

In the first part of this talk, I will present both theoretical and experimental results showing how finite size effects influence EOT through subwavelength hole arrays. I will show how EOT properties evolve with the number of holes in the studied array; from the case of a single hole (where transmission decreases monotonically with the wavelength) to the case of an infinite array of holes (where resonant features can be clearly observed). Later, I will show how EOT is already present in finite chains of holes, which can be considered as the basic entity showing EOT [2]. In addition, I will discuss the unexpected spatial distribution of light as it emerges from the arrays [3].

In the second part of my talk, I will demonstrate that EOT can be also found in finite quasiperiodic arrays of holes and that the origin of this phenomenon relies on the excitation of leaky surface modes, much in the same way as in the case of periodic arrangements. To tackle this problem, I will introduce a new k-space picture of EOT, which is general for any arbitrary periodic and non-periodic distribution of holes [4].

Bio.

Jorge Bravo-Abad received the B.S. degree in physics from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain in 2001, and the Ph.D. degree in physics from the same university in 2006. He is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. His current research interests focus on plasmonics and nonlinear nanophotonics.

Updated Thursday August 16, 2007