Enhanced Optical Transmission through MacEtch-Fabricated Buried Metal Gratings

Metallic films with subwavelength apertures, integrated into a semiconductor by metal-assisted chemical etch (MacEtch), demonstrate enhanced transmission when compared to bare semiconductor surfaces. The resulting buried metallic structures are characterized spectroscopically and modeled using rigorous coupled wave analysis. These composite materials offer potential integration with optoelectronic devices, for simultaneous near-uniform electrical contact and strong optical coupling to free space.