Terahertz near-field spectroscopy of filled subwavelength sized apertures in thin metal films

We have measured terahertz near-field spectra of cesium iodide crystals as small as similar to 10 mu m in diameter, which were deposited on single, sub-wavelength-sized apertures created in thin gold films on a substrate. The advantage of using small apertures for terahertz microspectroscopy is that only terahertz light that has interacted with the cesium iodide is observed. We find that around the transverse optical phonon frequency of cesium iodide, the amplitude transmission is as much influenced by the refractive index as by the absorption. We show that the ability to measure in the near-field of the apertures, where signals are relatively strong, allows us to measure on sample volumes as small as similar to 5 x 10(-16) m(3). (c) 2013 Optical Society of America