Evanescently coupled resonance in surface plasmon enhanced transmission

The optical transmission through subwavelength holes in metal films can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude by enabling interaction of the incident light with independent surface plasmon (SP) modes on either side of the film. Here, we show that this transmission is boosted by an additional factor of similar to 10 when the energies of the SP modes on both sides are matched. These results, confirmed by a three-dimensional theoretical analysis, give a totally new understanding of the phenomenon of SP enhanced transmission. It is found that the holes behave like subwavelength cavities for the evanescent waves coupling the SPs on either side of the film, In this unusual device, the reflection at either end of the cavity is provided by the SP modes which act as frequency dependent mirrors. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reseved.