Resonant transmission of light through subwavelength holes in thick metal films

In this paper, we study how extraordinary transmission through an array of holes in a metallic film appears as a function of the number of holes and their distribution. We have used a theoretical formalism able to analyze the optical properties of finite collections of apertures placed at arbitrary positions in a metallic film. First, we describe how the total transmission in a hexagonal two-dimensional hole array evolves as the number of holes in the array is increased. Second, we study the extraordinary transmission appearing in a single one-dimensional chain of holes. We find that the transmission through this structure is very sensitive to the incident polarization. Third, we show that a single hole flanked symmetrically by two finite chains of dimples can also present extraordinary transmission properties.