Directional beaming of light from a nanoslit surrounded by metallic heterostructures

By modulating the dielectric properties of metallic surfaces with different metal materials, we theoretically proposed and numerically demonstrated that a nanoslit surrounded by metallic heterostructures constructed with metals Al and Ag can realize directional beaming of light. The beaming is due to the electromagnetic surface resonances modulated by the dielectric properties of the output metallic surface. The structure would be interesting for a variety of optical devices and elements for nanophotonics. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.