Modeling of near-field optical diffraction from a subwavelength aperture in a thin conducting film

A theoretical model, novel to our knowledge, to investigate the near-field optical diffraction from a subwavelength aperture in a thin conducting film is presented. A governing equation for the magnetic field distribution in an optical thin film based on the power flow theorem is derived for the first time. Thus all of the components of the electric and magnetic fields inside or outside the thin film with a subwavelength aperture embedded can be obtained by applying the Hankel transform accurately. Numerical computations are performed to illustrate the edge effect by an enhancement factor of 2.2 and the depolarization phenomenon of the transmission in terms of the distance from the film surface. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America