Minimal model for optical transmission through holey metal films

This paper presents a tutorial on the computation of both extraordinary optical transmission and surface electromagnetic modes in holey metal films. Our model consists of a square array of square holes in a perfect conductor. It is shown that considering just the fundamental waveguide mode inside the holes captures the main features of the optical transmission, which allows us to obtain quasi-analytical results. Extraordinary optical transmission is unambiguously linked to the presence of surface electromagnetic modes in the corrugated structure. The particular case of surface electromagnetic modes in a perfect conductor is analyzed, paying attention to different strategies for increasing their confinement to the surface. The use of the energy loss of a charged particle passing close to the surface as a spectroscopic tool for these surface modes is also discussed.