Extraordinary optical transmission through hole arrays in optically thin metal films

A theoretical study is presented on the optical transmission through square hole arrays drilled in optically thin films, where transmission may occur through both the holes and the metal layer. It is shown that, as the thickness of the metal film decreases, the coupling of light with short-range surface plasmons redshifts the extraordinary optical transmission peak to longer wavelengths. At the same time, the maximum-to-minimum transmittance ratio is kept high even for metal thicknesses as small as one skin depth. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America