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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 55: Poster Laseranwendungen

Q 55.8: Poster

Thursday, March 13, 2008, 16:30–19:00, Poster C2

Polarization dependent light transmission through single nanoscopic apertures — •Jochen Kindler née Mueller, Peter Banzer, Susanne Quabis, Ulf Peschel, and Gerd Leuchs — Max Planck Research Group of Optics, Information and Photonics, Günther-Scharowsky-Str. 1 / Bau 24, 91058 Erlangen

In the recent years the investigation of transmission through sub wavelength holes in thin metal films has intensified in order to gain a better understanding at a fundamental level. Much work has been published studying arrays of holes. In contrast, we experimentally study the transmission of a single aperture and compare our results to rigorous numerical calculation based on FDTD algorithm. We concentrate on investigating the influence of polarization distributions which are non-homogeneous on a scale of less than one wavelength. For this purpose we generate radially and azimuthally polarized beams at wavelengths of 775 nm and 532 nm which are focussed by a high numerical aperture microscope objective onto each aperture. As samples we use glass substrates covered with different metals (Ag, Pt, Cr) which are structured with apertures of different types and sizes. For holes as well as for annular rings with diameters smaller than the wavelength we find a strong polarization effect on the transmitted power. In this contribution, we will apply the concept of cylindrically symmetric waveguide Eigenmodes to our results. Furthermore, the FDTD model calculation reveals the excitation of surface plasmons to play an important role.