Transmission of THz radiation through InSb gratings of subwavelength apertures

We demonstrate the extraordinary transmission of terahertz THz radiation through gratings of subwavelength apertures structured in indium antimonide InSb. This transmission can be attributed to the tunneling of surface plasmons polaritons which are excited in semiconductors at THz frequencies. By thermally controlling the permittivity of the grating the transmittance increases by more than one order of magnitude. This increase might be associated to the larger the skin depth in InSb at low temperatures, which gives rise to a larger effective size of the apertures. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.