There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Fundamentals of Plasmonics.- Electromagnetics of Metals.- Surface Plasmon Polaritons at Metal / Insulator Interfaces.- Excitation of Surface Plasmon Polaritons at Planar Interfaces.- Imaging Surface Plasmon Polariton Propagation.- Localized Surface Plasmons.- Electromagnetic Surface Modes at Low Frequencies.- Applications.- Plasmon Waveguides.- Transmission of Radiation Through Apertures and Films.- Enhancement of Emissive Processes and Nonlinearities.- Spectroscopy and Sensing.- Metamaterials and Imaging with Surface Plasmon Polaritons.- Concluding Remarks.

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Plasmonics: Fundamentals and Applications

The presence of tiny holes in an opaque metal film, with sizes smaller than the wavelength of incident light, leads to a wide variety of unexpected optical properties such as strongly enhanced transmission of light through the holes and wavelength filtering. These intriguing effects are now known to be due to the interaction of the light with electronic resonances in the surface of the metal film, and they can be controlled by adjusting the size and geometry of the holes. This knowledge is opening up exciting new opportunities in applications ranging from subwavelength optics and optoelectronics to chemical sensing and biophysics.

Light in tiny holes

Collective electronic excitations at metal surfaces are well known to play a key role in a wide spectrum of science, ranging from physics and materials science to biology. Here we focus on a theoretical description of the many-body dynamical electronic response of solids, which underlines the existence of various collective electronic excitations at metal surfaces, such as the conventional surface plasmon, multipole plasmons and the recently predicted acoustic surface plasmon. We also review existing calculations, experimental measurements and applications.

/pdf/theory-of-surface-plasmons-and-surface-plasmon-polaritons-42vs95dnoa.pdf

Theory of surface plasmons and surface-plasmon polaritons

This review provides a perspective on the recent developments in the transmission of light through subwavelength apertures in metal films. The main focus is on the phenomenon of extraordinary optical transmission in periodic hole arrays, discovered over a decade ago. It is shown that surface electromagnetic modes play a key role in the emergence of the resonant transmission. These modes are also shown to be at the root of both the enhanced transmission and beaming of light found in single apertures surrounded by periodic corrugations. This review describes both the theoretical and experimental aspects of the subject. For clarity, the physical mechanisms operating in the different structures considered are analyzed within a common theoretical framework. Several applications based on the transmission properties of subwavelength apertures are also addressed.

http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/47904/1/Light%20passing.pdf

Light passing through subwavelength apertures

We explore, both experimentally and theoretically, the existence in the millimeter-wave range of the phenomenon of extraordinary light transmission through arrays of subwavelength holes We have measured the transmission spectra of several samples made on aluminum wafers by use of an AB Millimetre quasi-optical vector network analyzer in the wavelength range 42–65 mm Clear signals of the existence of resonant light transmission at wavelengths close to the period of the array appear in the spectra

Enhanced millimeter-wave transmission through subwavelength hole arrays.

Metamaterial structures are artificial materials that show unconventional electromagnetic properties such as photonic band-gap, extraordinary optical transmission and left-handed propagation. Up to now, relations of photonic crystals and negative refraction have been shown as well as of photonic crystals and sub-wavelength hole arrays. Here we report a left-handed metamaterial engineered by a combination of sub-wavelength hole array plates periodically stacked to form a photonic crystal structure. It is shown the possibility of fine-tuning the metamaterial in order to permit extraordinary optical transmission and left-handed behaviour. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of engineering left-handed metamaterials by just drilling holes in metallic plates and brings together single structure photonic crystals, extraordinary optical transmission and left-handed behaviour.

Left-handed extraordinary optical transmission through a photonic crystal of subwavelength hole arrays

In this paper, we show that the phenomenon of extraordinary transmission through arrays of subwavelength holes, present in the optical regime, is also present in the millimeter wave range. After presentation of the theoretical foundations of the enhanced transmission, measurements of the transmission response have been performed on different samples by using a millimeter wave quasioptical vector network analyzer in the range between 45 and 110 GHz. The prototypes have been fabricated in Aluminum plates with several thickness and different hole diameters drilled by using a laser machine. Good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained, with clear signals of the existence of resonant transmission at wavelengths close to the period of the array. Possible applications in frequency selective surfaces and near-field imaging are envisaged.

Enhanced millimeter wave transmission through quasioptical subwavelength perforated plates

A novel periodic structure, made of an arbitrary number of stacked subwavelength hole arrays, exhibiting simultaneously electromagnetic band gap, extraordinary transmission and a longitudinal left handed propagation is presented in this paper. If the longitudinal period of the stacked structure is chosen adequately, it is possible under normal incidence to mold the electromagnetic wave properties inside the structure from right-handed to left-handed wave propagation passing through a zero-group velocity band. The transmission response of the fabricated prototype has been measured with a millimeter wave quasioptical vector network analyzer in the range between 40 GHz and 110 GHz confirming the possibility to tune the left- or right-handed characteristics of the propagating waves. These results can give rise to interesting applications such as novel lenses and other quasioptical structures.

Molding Left- or Right-Handed Metamaterials by Stacked Cutoff Metallic Hole Arrays

Metamaterial structures are artificial materials that show unconventional electromagnetic properties such as negative refraction index, perfect lenses, and invisibility. However, losses are one of the big challenges to be surpassed in order to design practical devices at optical wavelengths. Here we report negative refraction in a prism engineered by stacked sub-wavelength hole arrays. These structures exhibit inherently an extraordinary optical transmission which could offer a solution to the problem of losses at optical wavelengths. It is shown the possibility to obtain negative indices of refraction starting from near to zero values. Our work demonstrates by a direct experiment the feasibility of engineering negative refraction by just drilling sub-wavelength holes in metallic plates and stacking them.

I. Campillo

Papers

Enhanced millimeter-wave transmission through subwavelength hole arrays.

Left-handed extraordinary optical transmission through a photonic crystal of subwavelength hole arrays

Enhanced millimeter wave transmission through quasioptical subwavelength perforated plates

Molding Left- or Right-Handed Metamaterials by Stacked Cutoff Metallic Hole Arrays

Negative refraction in a prism made of stacked subwavelength hole arrays.