Terahertz pinch harmonics enabled by single nano rods

A pinch harmonic (or guitar harmonic) is a musical note produced by lightly pressing the thumb of the picking hand upon the string immediately after it is picked [J. Chem. Educ. 84, 1287 (2007)]. This technique turns off the fundamental and all overtones except those with a node at that location. Here we present a terahertz analogue of pinch harmonics, whereby a metallic nano rod placed at a harmonic node on a terahertz nanoresonator suppresses the fundamental mode, making the higher harmonics dominant. Strikingly, a skin depth-wide nano rod placed at the mid-point turns off all resonances. Our work demonstrates that terahertz electromagnetic waves can be tailored by nanoparticles strategically positioned, paving important path towards terahertz switching and detection applications. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America