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Optical antennas and plasmonics

a
Q-Han Park
a
Department of Physics, Korea University, Seoul, 136-701, Korea
Version of record first published: 06 May 2009.

To cite this article: Q-Han Park (2009): Optical antennas and plasmonics, Contemporary Physics, 50:2, 407-423
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 Contemporary Physics
Vol. 50, No. 2, March–April 2009, 407–423

Optical antennas and plasmonics

Q-Han Park*
Department of Physics, Korea University, Seoul, 136-701, Korea
(Received 12 December 2008; final version received 12 January 2009)

Optical antenna is a nanoscale miniaturisation of radio or microwave antennas that is also governed by the rule of
plasmonics. We introduce various types of optical antenna and make an overview of recent developments in optical
antenna research. The role of local and surface plasmons in optical antenna is explained through antenna resonance
and resonance conditions for specific metal structures are explicitly obtained. A strong electric field is shown to exist
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within a highly localised region of optical antennas such as antenna feed gap or apertures. We describe physical
properties of field enhancement in apertures (circular and rectangular holes) and gaps (infinite slit and feed gap), as
well as experimental techniques measuring enhanced electric vector field. We discuss the analogies and differences
between conventional and optical antennas with a projection for future developments.
Keywords: optical antenna; subwavelength; resonance; surface plasmon; enhancement; metal

1. Introduction optical signals instead of subwavelength optical

Antennas are ubiquitous in modern day communica- antennas as we can see in the case of a telescope.
tions and come in various forms. In the early days, Then, what can we really do with optical antennas?
from Marconi’s first field test of antennas until World During the past decade, there has been a surge of
War II, most antennas were of wire type which was research activity on the optical properties of metal
used to transmit or receive radio waves. Developments nanoparticles and metals with structures at the
of microwave technology during and after the War nanometre scale. The advances in fabrication techni-
introduced new types of antenna (apertures, micro- que enabled construction of metallic nano structures in
strips, phased-array radars, etc.) [1] and shrank the size various forms. In particular, an optical analogue of the
of antennas as size depends on the wavelength of an monopole antenna – a metal pole of length about
electromagnetic wave. In the simplest form, an antenna 100 nm mounted on a near-field scanning optical
is a quarter wavelength long metal pole mounted on a microscopy (NSOM) tip as illustrated in Figure 2(b)
conducting plate which is known as the monopole has been constructed [2–6]. Antenna resonance and
antenna (see Figure 1). The typical size of antennas for field localisation near an optical monopole antenna
radio or microwave communications ranges from a have been demonstrated by using single fluorescent
hundred metres to a few milimetres. The shift of molecules [4]. These efforts began with the realisation
interest to the higher frequency band of electromag- that an optical antenna can be used to increase the
netic waves in communication, undoubtedly optical efficiency of a near-field optical probe that has a spatial
fibre communication is one good example, and the resolution well below the diffraction limit [7]. The
advance in nanotechnology and optical science raise subwavelength resolution below the diffraction limit
one natural question – is it possible to make ‘optical was made possible through the invention of the metal
antennas’? At optical frequencies, according to the coated, tapered fibre probe with an aperture of size
quarter wavelength resonance condition, the size of much smaller than the wavelength [8–10]. Subwave-
antenna may be only about a hundred nanometres! But length size apertures, however, suffer from a poor
can we simply shrink down the antenna in proportion coupling efficiency of nearby light since it is known
to the wavelength to make optical antennas work? In that the coupling efficiency scales as (a/l)4, where a is
optical fibre communication, waves are already guided the diameter of a hole and l is wavelength. Optical
by a fibre and there seems to be no need for antennas antennas can increase the coupling efficiency by
which are used for wireless communications. On the focusing light onto an aperture region.
other hand, in wireless optical communication, optical Another important antenna type is a dipole
components such as mirror and lens are used to receive antenna which is made of two monopole rods

*Email: [email protected]

ISSN 0010-7514 print/ISSN 1366-5812 online

Ó 2009 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/00107510902745611
http://www.informaworld.com
 408 Q-H. Park

separated by a small gap. The conducting plate of a pieces, has been used widely as an optical antenna
monopole antenna provides the image of a monopole [7,13–12]. A strong electric field with an enhancement
rod and subsequently the monopole antenna is in fact factor several orders of magnitude can modify the
equivalent to the dipole antenna. Optical dipole emission of light by a molecule. Increased fluorescence
antennas have been used widely for near-field optical of molecules near optical antennas has been reported
probes. On resonance, strong field enhancement in the [4,22–26]. Moreover, spectroscopic techniques such as
dipole antenna gap was observed with nanometre-scale surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) [27], in the
gold dipole antennas [11,12]. Similar enhancement presence of a highly localised strong electric field, have
was also obtained with a nanometre-scale bow-tie allowed optical detection and spectroscopy of a single
antenna [13]. The bow-tie antenna, a variant of the molecule [28–33]. Single molecule detection has been
dipole antenna made of two triangle shaped metal demonstrated also using local fields resonantly en-
hanced by monopole antennas mounted on a
NSOM tip [4–6] and applied to biological nano-
imaging [3,38]. In this regard, an optical antenna is
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more of a probe for communication with the nano-

scopic world than being a tool for human-to-human
communications.
The enhancement of electric field in an optical
dipole antenna is caused essentially by two factors:
surface charge and resonance. Current on an antenna
surface which is induced by an incoming light charges
the feed gap of a dipole antenna and subsequently
establishes a strong electric field in the gap. Gap
charging becomes resonantly enhanced when the
antenna geometry meets the resonance condition;
that is, the length of a dipole antenna is an integer
multiple of half wavelength. The resonance condition,
which holds for radio and microwave antennas, does
not apply directly to optical antennas. Metal nanorods
Figure 1. Various antennas: monopole antenna (left), Yagi- or wires excited by light show resonance characteristics
Uda antenna consisting of dipole antennaarrays (right top)
which are different from the perfectly conducting case
and the horn antenna (right bottom) at Bell Labs, Holmdel,
NJ that Penzias and Wilson in 1965 used to discover the [35–43]. At optical frequencies, metal is a highly
cosmic microwave background radiation, the evidence of Big dispersive material with finite conductivity. An elec-
Bang theory. tron gas in a metal can couple to light in the form of

Figure 2. Monopole antennas: (a) typical monopole antenna; (b) optical monopole antenna on a NSOM tip. Conducting metal
mount acts as a mirror and pairs up the monopole rod with its image rod to form a dipole antenna.
 Contemporary Physics 409

a propagating surface wave also called surface antenna, reflector antenna, frequency-indendent anten-
plasmon polariton (SPP) [44,45] or local plasmons in na and microstrip antenna. These alternatives can also
the case of nanoparticles [46]. Plasmons, either SPP or be applied to improve optical antennas. The celebrated
local plasmons, exhibit salient resonance features. Due enhanced transmission through a periodic array of
to the excitation of local plasmons, the optical holes [53] may be attributed to the action of a phased-
properties of metal nanoparticles for instance are array optical antenna [73]. Surrounding a single hole by
determined by the shape, size and dielectric environ- periodic corrugations, the so-called the Bull’s eye
ment of a metal particle [46]. Recent development of structure, it was demonstrated that the optical aperture
nanofabrication techniques enabled construction of a antenna has the ability to increase and selectively
variety of metal structures at the subwavelength scale transmit light with a controlled directivity [74–76]. The
and opened the research area called ‘plasmonics’, a idea of a Yagi–Uda antenna [77], which is a directional
subfield of nanophotonics studying the manipulation antenna using reflectors, has been applied in the optical
of light coupled to electrons at the nanoscale [47–49]. domain to obtain a directed emission of single emitters
The dispersion relation of SPP and the local plasmon and shape light beams [78–80]. Optical nanostrip
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resonance complicate the resonance feature of optical antennas have been studied with an analysis on the
antennas and modify significantly other features of a slow-plasmon resonance [81,82].
conventional antenna. Roughly speaking, one can not Optical antennas also open up a new realm of
simply shrink down a radio antenna to make an optical application that was not conceived in microwave
antenna. The properties of optical antennas are still antennas. By integrating a resonant optical antenna
under intensive study. We may say that research efforts made of a pair of gold nanorods on the facet of a diode
to relate plasmonics with subwavelength optical laser (or a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser), a
antennas have just begun. plasmonic laser antenna (or respectively a plasmonic
The slot antenna is a complementary structure of a quantum cascade laser antenna) has been constructed
dipole antenna formed by cutting a narrow slot in a with the ability to confine infrared radiation well below
large piece of metal plate. The Babinet’s principle 100 nm [83,84]. An array of bow-tie antennas was
suggests that the slot antenna works equally well as its proposed as a new tool to produce coherent extreme
complementary dipole and various shapes of an ultraviolet light [85]. High harmonic generation was
aperture can be applied to make optical antennas. obtained by focusing a femtosecond laser onto a gas
The transmission of an electromagnetic wave through inside the bow-tie antenna gap. These efforts demon-
a subwavelength size hole is an old subject dating back strate the exciting potential of optical antennas as a
to World War II [50,51], but an optics version of the means of realising active or nonlinear optical processes
problem with a new element, the plasmon, ignited an at the nanoscale.
explosive interest [52,53] which eventually led to the Recent advances in optical antenna theory and
birth of plasmonics. Rigorous studies have been made application are mostly based on one particular
on the transmission of light through a single circular property of an antenna, that is the strong field
hole [54–62] or other types of apertures such as enhancement at the nanoscale region. Plasmonic
C-shape [63–66]. Bow-tie shaped aperture antennas resonances add a new twist to the problem of antenna
have received much attention in terms of their resonance and field enhancement. As the optical
capability to gain strong field confinement and antenna is in a rapidly developing stage, in the present
enhancement [16,67–70]. A rectangular shape aperture paper we will avoid reviewing optical antennas in detail
is of particular interest since it is the geometrical shape but will focus on the basic issues of plasmonic
of a slot antenna. The half wavelength resonance resonance and field enhancement which are critical
condition applies to the slot antenna of high con- elements of optical antennas. The paper is organised as
ductivity and a half wave slot leads to a resonantly follows; Section 2 introduces antenna resonance and
enhanced and aperture confined electric field [71,72]. plasmonic resonances existing in optical antennas.
Aperture type optical antennas have the advantage of Plasmon resonance conditions are explained for
light confinement and better control of the radiation various metal geometries: flat surface, cylindrical
pattern compared to the wire type. This initiated surface and nanoparticles. Section 3 describes the
efforts on using bow-tie aperture antennas to achieve strong field enhancement in optical aperture type
better subwavelength resolution in near field imaging antennas. We explain both resonant and non-resonant
or nanoscale lithography [68–70]. field enhancements existing in holes and slit, and
The efficiency of a single optical antenna is generally introduce vector field mapping techniques. Finally, in
low and the functionality is limited. Modern microwave Section 4, we discuss analogies and differences between
antenna technology created various alternatives to optical antennas and conventional antennas with a
overcome these difficulties including phased-array projection of future developments.
 410 Q-H. Park

wave, when combined with the incident wave, forms a

2. Antenna resonance and plasmonics
standing wave current pattern with period l/2. Thus, if
2.1. Monopole antenna the total length of the bending section of wires are
The word antenna as we know was first used by integer multiple of l/2, the dipole antenna gets
Guglielmo Marconi during his experiment on a wireless resonantly excited increasing the antenna efficiency. A
transmission using a metal pole (antenna in Italian monopole antenna can be thought of as a dipole
means pole). A metal pole mounted on a ground or a antenna where one half of a dipole antenna is replaced
conducting box is known as a monopole antenna. with a ground plane at right-angles to the remaining
Marconi’s monopole antennas receive or transmit radio half. The ground plane, when sufficiently large,
waves most efficiently when the pole is one quarter provides a reflection forming a mirror image of an
wavelength in length. To understand this, we first recall antenna as indicated in Figure 2(a). This explains that
the radiation mechanism of a wire antenna. When free the resonance length of a monopole antenna is the
electrons on a conducting wire surface are set in motion integer multiple of l/4.
by the external source, current flows along the surface
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of a wire. Electrons are accelerated or decelerated if the

driving source is time harmonic, or if the wire geometry 2.2. Surface plasmon polaritons
blocks constant flow of electrons and these accelerated In finding the resonant condition of a monopole
(decelerated) charges, or equivalently time varying antenna, we assumed that the travelling wave current
currents, create radiation. To see this more clearly, moves at the speed of light and stated that resonance
consider two parallel wires as in Figure 3(a) driven by arises when the length is an integer multiple of l/4. Can
an alternating current source. When two wires are this be true for any value of l, especially for optical
close, electric field lines, emanating from the positive wavelengths? A recent experiment shows that an
charges on one wire and ending at the negative charges approximately 80 nm tall optical monopole antenna is
on the other wire, are mostly confined within the region resonant with green light with wavelength of 514 nm
between two wires creating little radiation. If two wires [4]. Obviously, the l/4-rule does not work. Then, what
are bent in opposite directions with open ends as in decides the resonance condition? In the following, we
Figure 3(a), the electric field lines become circularly show that the finite conductivity and the shape of an
distorted. As the travelling current reaches to the end, optical antenna change the resonance condition.
field lines become pinched and form a closed loop and Carrying explicitly the resonance condition calculations
finally leave the wire. This wire configuration is called a for the slab and rod, we explain how the change of
dipole antenna and the radiation pattern is indeed that resonance condition arise with the right ten-
of a dipole as in Figure 3(b). The travelling wave dency. However, we will avoid elaborate calculations
current gets reflected at the end of wire and the reflected which are needed to get full agreement with experiment.

Figure 3. Dipole antenna: (a) two wire transmission lines. Alternating currents in two wires have the same magnitude and
phases with 1808 difference. Confined oscillating electric field in parallel lines leaves (radiates) from lines when lines open up in
opposite directions. (a) Radiation pattern of an oscillating dipole.
 Contemporary Physics 411

Free space Maxwell’s equation is known to be From the Maxwell’s equation r6H ¼ E@E/@t, we find
invariant under the scale transformation: the relation

r ! ar; t ! at; ð1Þ kz Hy ¼ wEEx ;

kmz Hmy ¼ wEm Emx ; ð7Þ
for some constant a. In other words, if fields E(r, t) and
B(r, t) are given solutions of the wave equation, which together with Equation (6) leads to

1 @2 kz kmz
r2 Eðr; tÞ  Eðr; tÞ ¼ 0 ; ¼ : ð8Þ
c2 @t2 E Em
1 @2
r2 Bðr; tÞ  2 2 Bðr; tÞ ¼ 0 ; ð2Þ
c @t Combining Equations (5) and (8), we finally obtain the
dispersion relation
we have that E(ar, at) and B(ar, at) are also solutions.
 1=2  1=2
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If the scale invariance also works for a monopole E2 w E2m w

antenna, the l/4-resonance condition would hold kz ¼ i ; kmz ¼ i ;
E þ Em c E þ Em c
irrespective of l. Scale invariance, however, breaks  1=2
down in the presence of a dispersive matter such as EEm w
kx ¼  ; ð9Þ
metal. The dielectric function of a metal is frequency E þ Em c
dependent as evidenced in the Drude model of the
dielectric function, where the choice of sign in taking the square root is made
in the following way; we assume for simplicity that the
w2p damping coefficient of the dielectric function in (3) is
EDrude ðwÞ ¼ 1  ; ð3Þ
w2 þ iw negligibly small so that it may be neglected. We also
restrict to the angular frequency w smaller than the
where wp is the volume plasma frequency and  is a plasmon frequency wp. Then, Em and Em þ E are negative
damping constant. The effect of the dispersive dielectric and quantities inside the square root are all positive. We
function on the travelling wave current may be best have chosen a positive sign for kz and kmz which presents
understood in terms of surface plasmons on a flat metal a physically sensible solution localised near z ¼ 0. As
surface. illustrated in Figure 4(a), imaginary kz and kmz make the
The surface plasmon polariton (SPP) is a surface field decay exponentially as we move away from the
electromagnetic wave that propagates in a direction interface so that field is localised near z ¼ 0. In contrast,
parallel to the metal surface. Consider the metal– kx is real. This means that the field propagates along the
dielectric interface at z ¼ 0 (metal part z 5 0) and a surface with velocity vsp and effective wavelength lsp,
surface electromagnetic wave of the form,  1=2  1=2
E þ Em E þ Em
z > 0 H ¼ ð0; Hy ; 0Þ exp ½iðkx x þ kz z  wtÞ ; vsp ¼ c; lsp ¼ l: ð10Þ
EEm EEm
E ¼ ðEx ; 0; Ez Þ exp ½iðkx x þ kz z  wtÞ ;
z<0 Hm ¼ ð0; Hmy ; 0Þ exp ½iðkmx x  kmz z  wtÞ ; This surface bound electromagnetic wave is the well-
known surface plasmon polariton. The dispersion relation
Em ¼ ðEmx ; 0; Emz Þ exp ½iðkmx x  kmz z  wtÞ ; and the phase velocity of SPP are given in Figure 4(b).The
ð4Þ divergence free condition of the electric field requires that

kx E 1=2
where the subscript ‘m’ denotes metal. The wavevector Ez ¼  Ex ¼ 
m
Ex ; ð11Þ
components satisfy kz E

k2x þ k2z ¼ Ek20 ; which implies that both Ex, Ez are nonvanishing for a
k2mx þ k2mz ¼ Em k20 : ð5Þ metal having finite conductivity. This in turn implies
that there exists nonzero surface charge density
s ¼ E0Ez exp[i(kxx 7 wt)]. Thus, SPP accompanies
Requiring the continuity of tangential components E collective charge oscillations driven by light. Note that
and H at the interface z ¼ 0, we have for a highly conducting metal, Em is large and kz
becomes negligibly small so that the localisation is very
kx ¼ kmx ;
weak. Therefore, in the perfectly conducting limit, SPP
Ex ¼ Emx ; Hy ¼ Hmy : ð6Þ ceases to exist if the surface is an infinite plane.
 412 Q-H. Park
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Figure 4. Surface plasmon polariton: (a) schematics of surface plasmon polariton, an oscillating surface charge wave coupled to
surface bound electromagnetic wave that propagates along the surface. (b) The dispersion relation and the frequency dependent
phase velocity of SPP. Velocity reaches zero as frequency increases to the surface plasmon resonance frequency.

Z
Figure 4(b) shows that the velocity of SPP decreases as iwEm 1
Hf ðr; zÞ ¼ c1 J1 ðkm rÞ exp ðiazÞ da for r < a
frequency increases. In fact, it reaches zero at the km 1
Z 1
critical frequency wsp, iwE0 ð2Þ
¼ c2 H1 ðk0 rÞ exp ðiazÞ da for r > a
wp k0 1
Es þ Em ðwsp Þ ¼ 0 or wsp ¼ : ð12Þ ð13Þ
ð1 þ Es Þ1=2
where k2m ¼ Em k20  a2 ; k20 ¼ k20  a2 and c1, c2 are
ð2Þ
The effective wavelength lsp also shrinks as frequency undetermined coefficients. Jm and Hm are cylindrical
increases towards wsp. This brings a hope that we could Bessel functions of the first kind and cylindrical
possibly use lsp to explain the discrepancy between the Hankel functions of the second kind, respectively.
resonance length Lres of a monopole antenna and the Requiring the continuity of fields at r ¼ a leads to
quarter wavelength (Lres 5 l/4). In other words, can ! 
ð2Þ
we expect that Lres ¼ lsp/4? To check this, we evaluate J0 ðkm aÞ H0 ðk0 aÞ c1
AC  iwEm ð2Þ ¼ 0:
lsp for an aluminium metal plane. The dielectric kmJ1 ðkm aÞ  iwE0 H1 ðk0 aÞ
k0
c2
constant of aluminium at wavelength 514 nm is
ð14Þ
Em ¼ 7 38.4 þ 10i, obtained by fitting the Drude
model to experimental data [86]. Then, Equation (10) Nonvanishing coefficients c1, c2 exist when the
results in lsp ¼ 508 nm. Though this value is smaller determinant of matrix A vanishes,
than the free space wavelength 514 nm, it is not
sufficiently small to account for the experimentally iwE0 ð2Þ
det AðaÞ ¼  H ðk0 aÞJ0 ðkm aÞ
observed resonance length Lres  80 nm (5lsp/ k0 1
4 ¼ 127 nm). One reason for this discrepancy is that iwEm ð2Þ
þ J1 ðkm aÞH0 ðk0 aÞ ¼ 0: ð15Þ
we considered surface travelling waves on a flat metal km
surface while the monopole antenna is made of a rod
with a diameter smaller than the wavelength. The zeros of det A(a) represent the symmetric TM modes
of the lossy dielectric cylinder. If we denote the root corres-
ponding to the principle mode TM0 by a0, wavenumber a0
2.3. Cylindrical surface waves determines the phase velocity of a surface wave by
In order to take the shape effect into account, we need to k0
find travelling waves along the surface of a cylinder vp ¼ c: ð16Þ
Reða0 Þ
having radius a. In cylindrical coordinates, field compo-
nents inside and outside of a cylinder can be written as Once again, this exhibits a plasmonic effect through a
Z 1 surface wave propagating along a cylinder with
Ez ðr; zÞ ¼ c1 J0 ðkm rÞ exp ðiazÞ da for r < a ; reduced phase velocity. Figure 5 shows TM mode
Z 1
1
profiles and the phase velocity of the principle mode as
ð2Þ a function of radius. It shows that the phase velocity
¼ c2 H0 ðk0 rÞ exp ðiazÞ da for r > a ;
1 and subsequently the effective wavelength decreases as
 Contemporary Physics 413

Figure 5. Cylindrical surface plasmon polaritons. (a) Profiles of lowest TM modes with the radius of metal cylinder a ¼ 0.05 l,
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0.2l, 0.4l. (b) Phase velocity of surface waves by varying radius a. The smaller radius makes the surface waves stay more inside a
metal so as to reduce the phase velocity.

the radius becomes smaller. When a ¼ 20 nm, leff ¼ approximation is available. If the radius a is much
491 nm. Though shorter than the flat space surface smaller than the wavelength l, all electrons in a sphere
plasmon wavelength, the quarter of leff is still bigger can be assumed to respond simultaneously to an
than the resonance length Lres  80 nm. The actual electric field of incoming light. In a short time scale,
monopole antenna, however, is not an infinite cylinder compared to the time period of light, the electric field
but has a rod end. It was pointed that the reactance of remains constant and the interaction can be treated as
the rod end would increase the antenna length an electrostatic problem of solving the Laplace
effectively [36] and this modifies the effective wave- equation. Denoting the constant electric field by
length approximately by E ¼ E0 z^, the electric field outside the sphere can be
readily calculated by solving the potential problem.
k0 Take the potential j of the form,
leff ¼ l  4a : ð17Þ
Reða0 Þ
j ¼ Ar cos f for r < a ;
2
ð18Þ
One might think as well that the reflection of a surface j ¼ ðE0 r þ Br Þcos f for r > a :
wave at the rod end suffers a certain amount of phase
shift which would increase the antenna length effec- The continuity of the tangential electric fields, @j/@y,
tively. There could be also experimental factors and the normal components of the electric displace-
contributing to the discrepancy for the measured ments, E@j/@r, at the surface of a sphere lead to
resonance length such as non-perfectly conducting
ground which however are not our concern. Instead of 3Es E0 Em  Es 3
A¼ ; B¼ a E0 : ð19Þ
pursuing a specific monopole antenna problem more Em þ 2Es Em þ 2Es
(for further details, see for example [37]), we consider
the effect of finite size on plasmonic resonances in Then, the electric field outside the sphere is written as
another well-known system – metal nanoparticles.  
Em  Es 3 z^ 3zr
Eout ¼ E0 z^  a E0 3  5 ; ð20Þ
Em þ 2Es r r
2.4. Local plasmon resonance and nanoparticles
When small metallic particles are irradiated by light, where Em and Es denote dielectric constants of metal
the conduction electrons oscillate collectively with and surrounding material, respectively. Apart from the
oscillation frequencies determined by the density and incident field, this is the electric field of an induced
the effective mass of electrons as well as the shape and dipole with the particle polarisability
the size of a metal particle. The density n and the
Em  Es
effective mass me of electrons determine the macro- a ¼ 4pa3 : ð21Þ
scopic dielectric function in Equation (3) through the Em þ 2Es
bulk plasma frequency wp ¼ (ne2/meE0)1/2. To relate
the shape and the material property to the oscillation At first sight, this quasi-static approximation looks to
frequencies, we consider a simple case of a small be really static and thus it can not explain the
spherical metal particle for which the quasi-static resonance frequency which is a dynamical quantity.
 414 Q-H. Park

The dielectric constant Em of metal is, however, In addition to the dipole, for larger particles there are
strongly dependent on frequency. A more rigorous contributions from higher-order modes (quadrupole,
solution of the Maxwell equation without the electro- octopole, etc.) and the spectral response is also
static approximation shows that the dipole field in (20) modified by the higher-order effects. All these correc-
is a radiating dipole and the scattering efficiency is tions can be calculated from the Mie theory of
proportional to j(Em 7 Es)/(Em þ 2Es)j2. The plasmon scattering [91].
resonance in scattering occurs when the real part of the
denominator vanishes such that
3. Field enhancement and optical aperture antennas
ReðEm þ 2Es Þ ¼ 0 : ð22Þ Most antennas were of wire type (monopoles, dipoles,
helices etc.) before World War II. During the War, new
Or, if we neglect the damping coefficient , when the antenna technology was launched and aperture type
dipole plasmon resonance frequency wdp is antennas (slits, slots, waveguides, horns, reflectors)
operating at microwave frequencies were introduced.
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wp
wdp ¼ : ð23Þ Aperture type antennas are particularly important in
ð1 þ 2Es Þ1=2 optical applications. The optical bow-tie slot antenna is
one good example of an aperture type antenna that has
Comparison of wdp with the surface plasmon reso- a better control of the radiation pattern compared to
nance frequency wsp in (12) shows the dependence of wire antennas. In fact, the uprise of plasmonics began
resonance frequency on the shape. A similar depen- with the measurement of extraordinary transmission of
dence can be found for more general shapes. For an light through periodic arrays of holes in an opaque
ellipsoidal metal particle with principal axes a, b, and c, metal film [53]. The role of surface plasmon polaritons
the particle polarisability a can be found in terms of in periodic arrays of holes or slits has received much
geometrical depolarisation factors Li along the princi- attention [92–95]. After all, a periodic array of holes is
pal axes [87,88], nothing but a phased-array optical slot antenna.

4 Em  Es X
3
a ¼ pabc ; Li ¼ 1 ð24Þ 3.1. Circular and rectangular holes
3 Es þ Li ðEm  Es Þ i¼1
How does light pass through a hole of size smaller than
and the dipole plasmon resonance frequency becomes or comparable to wavelength? This is a well known
question in diffraction theory treated in optics text
wp
wdp ¼ : ð25Þ books. Fraunhofer diffraction provides far field con-
½1 þ Es ð1  Li Þ=Li 1=2 figurations by utilising the Huygens–Fresnel principle
stating that light splits into outgoing spherical waves
This reduces to (23) for a spherical case for which when passed through a hole or a slit. When a hole is
L1 ¼ L2 ¼ L3 ¼ 1/3. Note that the dipole plasmon perforated in a metal, other important contributions
resonance frequency in (23) does not depend on the arise. Impinging light drives surface current and
particle size a. This is due to the quasi-static accumulates charge at the edges of the hole. Accumu-
approximation which is valid only for particles much lated charge in turn enhances the electric field inside
smaller than wavelength. For larger particles, the the hole and subsequently the far field diffracted light.
dipole plasmon resonance frequency redshifts due to Therefore a metallic aperture can focus and transmit
retardation effects [89] and radiation damping effects electromagnetic waves with increased efficiency. In
[90]. Retardation effects arise since the conduction other words, it acts as an antenna. This problem was
electrons in a large particle do not move simulta- first considered by Bethe in the advancement of
neously in phase and this leads to a reduction of microwave technology during World War II. Bethe
depolarisation field. Radiation damping contributes to developed his theory of light diffraction by idealising
the plasmon damping resulting in the broadening of the structure as the circular aperture in a perfectly
the resonance spectrum. Retardation and radiation conducting screen of zero thickness. The transmission
damping effects appear as the lowest-order correc- efficiency, defined as the transmission cross-section
tions to the quasi-static approximation. In parti- divided by the hole area, was obtained by Bethe in the
cular, the dipole plasmon resonance frequency is long wavelength limit and corrected later to include
corrected by higher-order terms by Bouwkamp [51]. It is given by
 
wdp 
wp
: ð26Þ s 64ðkaÞ4 22 2
¼ 1 þ ðkaÞ þ    ; ð27Þ
ð1 þ 2Es þ 12E2s p2 a2 =5l2 Þ1=2 pa2 27p2 25
 Contemporary Physics 415

where k ¼ 2p/l is the wavenumber of the incoming the radiation pattern from a circular hole is the same as
wave and a is the radius of a hole. It shows that the that of a circular disc with its driving electric field
transmission efficiency scales as (a/l)4 for a 5 l and having an opposite polarisation. Since circular disc
drops quickly as a becomes small. In the optical exhibits resonant behaviour, we expect that resonance
application of aperture antennas, focusing light and also arises as the size of hole a becomes comparable to
increasing transmission are important issues while in wavelength l. In order to understand the resonance in
the microwave application, radiation pattern and aperture antennas, we will consider the simpler case of
directivity of waves are important issues. According a slot antenna, having a rectangular shape aperture.
to Bouwkamp, the near field z-component of an Consider a TM polarised plane wave impinging
electric field at the shadow side (z ¼ 0), or the surface normally on a perfectly conducting screen with a
charge per permittivity, is written as rectangular hole. The size of a rectangular hole is
a 6 b, the thickness of the screen is h, and the
s 4ika a=r amplitude of the incoming electric field is E0. The
Ez ¼ ¼ E0 cos f ; ð28Þ
E0 3 ðr2 =a2  1Þ1=2 lowest TE01 mode of electric field inside the hole,
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directed along the y-axis, has the form

where r(4 a) is the radial coordinate, f is the  
azimuthal angle, and E0 is the amplitude of the px
Ex ¼ 0; Ez ¼ 0; Ey ¼ sin
incoming electric field. The angular cos f-dependence a
is a characteristic of a dipole emission pattern. This is ½EL cos ðmzÞ þ ER sin ðmzÞ: ð29Þ
verified both experimentally and numerically using the
Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method as For simplicity, we make the single mode approxima-
shown in Figure 6. Indeed, Babinet’s principle relates tion such that the electric field inside the hole is
an aperture antenna with a dipole antenna of wire governed by the lowest TE01 mode only. Matching
type. Babinet’s principle states that when a field behind tangential components of electric and magnetic fields
a perfectly conducting screen with an aperture is added at the opening (z ¼ 0) and the ending (z ¼ h)
to the field of a complementary structure which is interfaces of hole and also imposing the boundary
obtained by replacing aperture by screen and screen by condition of vanishing tangential electric field on a
aperture, then the sum is equal to the field where there perfect conductor, one can readily determine the
is no screen. More rigorously, the (vectorial) Babinet’s coefficients EL and ER so that
principle states that the diffracted electromagnetic  
fields caused by a screen with apertures and the 8kE0 px
Ey ¼ sin
source field (E(0), B(0)) are identical to those of a p a
complementary structure excited by the source imcos ðmzÞ þ kWsin ðmzÞ
ð0Þ
field with opposite polarisation characteristics ðEc =  2 ; 0 < z < h;
ð0Þ
ðm þ k2 W2 Þsin ðmhÞ þ 2imkWcos ðmhÞ
ð0Þ ð0Þ
cB ; Bc ¼ E =cÞ. In particular, this implies that
ð30Þ

Figure 6. Configuration of electric field component Ez (at z ¼ 0) normal to the 150 mm diameter hole: (a) FDTD calculation
(left) and experimental result using THz measurement (right). Electro-optic sampling technique used in the experiment measures
field component slightly away from z ¼ 0. (b) Configurations of electric field at various values of z. The singular behaviour of the
electric field near the edge of a circular aperture is manifest at z ¼ 0.
 416 Q-H. Park

where k ¼ 2p/l, m ¼ [k27(p/a)2]1/2. W representing which shows that electric field is inversely proportional
the coupling between the incoming wave and the TE01 to the slot width b. Consequently, electric field multi-
mode is given by plied by the area of the slot remains constant and slot
Z antennas focus the electromagnetic field. This focusing
k2y þ k2z 2 property of a slot antenna was predicted theoretically
W ¼ dkx dky
kkz ab [71] and confirmed experimentally using terahertz
Z a Z b   2 waves [72]. In Figure 7(b), experimentally measured
px
 dx dy sin exp ðiYÞ ; images of Ey are presented showing resonantly excited
0 0 a
fields and the reciprocal dependence on slot width at
Y ¼ kx ðx  a=2Þ þ ky ðy  b=2Þ ; k2z ¼ k2  k2x  k2y : resonance. When moved away from resonance, the
ð31Þ magnitude of enhancement decreases. Nonetheless,
enhancement plays an important role as can be seen
When the hole is of subwavelength scale (a, b 5 l), W in the case of an infinitely long slot, that is, a slit.
is approximately equal to 32abk2/3p. For a screen of
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nearly zero thickness (h l), the electric field at the

centre of the hole (x ¼ a/2, z ¼ 0) is approximately 3.2. Field enhancement without resonance: single slit
case
8ikE0 =p The expression for an electric field in a slit may be
Ey  : ð32Þ
h½k2  ðp=aÞ2 þ k2 W2  þ 2ikW obtained from Equation (30) by taking the limit a!?
and replacing the TE01 mode by a TEM mode which
Now, we are ready to understand the resonance nature can be done by changing sin(px/a) into a constant. We
of a rectangular aperture. If we assume that the slot is may fix the constant through matching boundaries as
thin (b a 5 l) so that W is small, Equation (32) before. The result is written as
shows that resonance occurs when k  p/a or the long
side of the slot is a half wavelength long, a  l/2. Note cos ðkzÞ þ G sin ðkzÞ
Ey ¼ 2iE0 ; ð34Þ
that this is the resonance condition of a dipole antenna ð1  G2 Þsin ðkhÞ  2G cos ðkhÞ
of wire type. The direction of electric field is along the
y-axis which is perpendicular to the long axis of the where the coupling constant G is given by
slot. This may be compared with the wire type antenna
Z b Z b Z
where the electric field is along the direction of the k exp ðisx þ isyÞ
G¼ dx dy ds
wire. Thus we assured Babinet’s principle in our case 0 0 iðk2  s2 Þ1=2
b
which is illustrated in Figure 7(a). We observe that
 bkð2 lnðbk=2Þ  3  ip þ 2gÞ ; ð35Þ
near resonance electric field is approximately equal to

3E0 where g ¼ 0.5772. . . is the Euler constant.

Ey  ; ð33Þ
8abk2 When the thickness of screen h is smaller than

Figure 7. (a) Slot antenna and its Babinet complementary dipole antenna. (b) Images of Ey component: resonantly excited
electric field (left) at a rectangular aperture of size 10 mm 6 300 mm with frequencies f ¼ 0.3 and 0.6 THz. resonantly excited
electric field (right) with f ¼ 0.3 THz measured at rectangular apertures having different aspect ratios; ay ¼ 15ax ¼ 300 mm and
ay ¼ 30ax ¼ 300 mm. Narrower aperture exhibits stronger field localization which is inversely proportional to the gap size.
 Contemporary Physics 417

wavelength so that kh ¼ 2ph/l 1, we may approx- parallel to slit. We assumed the harmonic time
imate Ey by dependence exp(-iwt) for surface current K and charge
density s. For a narrow gap (b 5 h l), we expect
2iE0 that induced charge resides mostly on the gap surface
Ey  ; ð36Þ
ð1  G2 Þkh  2G with surface charge density sG ¼ QInd/h thereby
forming a parallel plate capacitor. Then the resulting
and additionally if h is smaller than the slit width b electric field,
(h5b l), Ey can be further approximated to
Ey ¼ sG =E0 ¼ E0 l=iph ð42Þ
iE0 iE0
Ey   : ð37Þ
G bkð2 lnðbk=2Þ  3  ip þ 2gÞ agrees with that in Equation (38). This shows that the
field enhancement inside a narrow gap indeed results
Once again, this shows that Ey is inversely propor- from a capacitative charging of metal edges. We learn
tional to b and the strong focusing of light is possible from Equation (37) that for a thin slit (h 5 b l),
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even with a non-resonant slit system. Therefore, a slit the field enhancement is inversely proportional to the
also acts as an optical antenna. To understand the gap size b in contrast to a thick slit where it is
physical mechanism of field enhancement, we consider independent of the gap size. This is rather surprising
the case where h is bigger than the slit width b since it suggests that we can achieve a field enhance-
(b 5 h l) so that Ey is approximately ment without invoking resonance. Recently, we have
demonstrated that, using terahertz waves and a slit of
2iE0 E0 l size l/30,000, the enhancement factor can reach to the
Ey   ¼ : ð38Þ
kh iph value of 800 [96]. The nonresonant enhancement may
be attributed to a combined effect of the capacitative
The meaning of this expression can be understood as charging and the lightning rod effect. A more rigorous
follows; recall that an electromagnetic wave reflected account of nonresonant enhancement can be obtained
on a metal surface induces surface current. On a by adopting the ‘ l–zone’ formalism [97].
perfect conductor, the induced surface current K is
determined by the tangential magnetic field,
3.3. Mapping electric and magnetic vecor fields using
K ¼ n  Hjj ; ð39Þ optical antennas
Resonantly excited optical antennas generate strong
where n is the unit vector normal to the surface and Hjj local variations of electric and magnetic vector fields at
is the tangential magnetic field just outside the surface. the nano scale. Most optical probes detect the intensity
The boundary condition of vanishing tangential of light thus measuring only the magnitude of vector
electric field requires that Hjj ¼ 2H0 for a normally fields. The direction of the electric vector field was
incident plane wave with magnetic field H0 ¼ (E0/m0)1/2 implicitly captured in the observation of single
E0. In the presence of a slit, surface current accumu- molecules using NSOM where the orientation of each
lates charge at the edges of a slit as the slit gap blocks molecular dipole was determined [98]. The longitudinal
the flow of surface current. The induced charge QInd by electric-field component of Bessel beams was deter-
the surface current can be readily obtained from the mined by using a polarisation sensitive sheet of organic
charge conservation law: molecule as a probe [99]. Recently, we have shown that
the explicit measurement of field vectors, both in
@ magnitude and in direction, is possible [100] when an
sþ r K ¼ 0; ð40Þ
@t optical antenna is properly combined with conven-
tional probing techniques. As illustrated in Figure 8(a),
where s is the surface charge density and r denotes we attach a gold nanoparticle at the NSOM fibre tip
the two-dimensional divergence. Making integration, and place it in the vicinity of nanostructures. Then the
we find that the induced charge per unit length can be local electric field drives the gold particle to act as an
written as oscillating dipole antenna. The radiated field intensity
Z   is measured after passing through a rotating polarizer.
1 2 E0 1=2 Since the dipole radiation is critically dependent on the
QInd ¼ K  n^ dl ¼ E0 ð41Þ
iw iw m0 direction of the induced dipole, which is in the same
direction as the driving electric field, the rotating
where n^ is a normal vector to the boundary and the polariser and subsequently the detection of varying
integration is over the unit length of a boundary intensity provides information on the electric field
 418 Q-H. Park
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Figure 8. Vector field mapping: schematic of (a) vector NSOM. A gold nanoparticle attached to an NSOM tip acts as an optical
dipole antenna. When placed in evanescent near fields, the oscillating induced dipole radiates into the far field region. Radiation
depends on the strength and the direction of the near field. (b) Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy using an electro-optic
sampling technique. A metallic sheet is deposited on a (110) oriented GaP crystal, which acts both as a dielectric support and as
the field-detecting electro-optic crystal. The probe beam detects the near field by measuring distortion of the crystal which is
sensitive to terahertz waves.

vector. In this way, electric field vector maps have been time-dependent magnetic field vector, and also the
demonstrated [100] but without a full sense of the Poynting vector from the knowledge of electric and
direction. Since the detection was made on the magnetic fields. In this way, a full vector field map
intensity of light passed through a polariser, it electromagnetic wave has been obtained with a
measures the direction modulo 180 degree. resolution well below the wavelength.
In the terahertz frequency range, this difficulty can
be avoided through the terahertz time-domain spectro-
scopy, which is a spectroscopic technique capable of 4. Discussion
measuring the phase and amplitude of the electric field The optical antenna is now becoming a major vehicle
in an ultra-wide THz bandwidth [101–103]. A full for nanophotonics research. As a scaled down version
vector field map has been obtained using the vectorial of conventional radio and microwave antennas, the
Fourier transform two dimensional microscopy [104] optical antenna shares most of the common antenna
which utilises the advantages of terahertz time domain characteristics. Optical analogues of monopole, dipole,
spectroscopy and the electro-optic sampling technique directional and phased-array antennas have been
[105]. In Figure 9, we show the full electric field vector constructed and used for various nano-optics applica-
map of a THz pulse passing through a slit in a metal tions. We have seen that the resonance condition of
foil. Time snapshots of the electric field vector antenna changes significantly when we move toward
components are given in the entire region of space the optical regime. The relatively low conductivity of a
behind the slits, where red and blue colours represent metal in the optical domain invokes a collective motion
positive and negative values of amplitude. This allows of electrons, i.e. plasmons. Plasmonic resonance is a
us to draw Faraday field lines of the electric field as new element in optical antenna systems. The old
given in Figure 10. Moreover, by taking the curl geometric resonance such as half wavelength resonance
of measured electric field vector, we obtain the is modified due to the excitation of plasmonic surface
 Contemporary Physics 419
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Figure 9. Electric field amplitude passing through a single slit: (a) Ex and (b) Ez at t ¼ 1.28, 1.73, 2.18, 2.62 ps. Colours
represent negative and positive values of field amplitude. The component Ez at z ¼ 0 is proportional to surface charge which
shows an alternating charge wave propagation.

waves (surface plasmon polaritons) with shortened conductor and become loosely bound surface waves
wavelengths. The plasmonic resonance, arising in known as Sommerfeld–Zenneck waves [106,107] for a
nanoparticles in the form of a dipole plasmon good conductor such as metal in the THz frequency
resonance, proves that a metal nanoparticle can be domain [108,109]. On the other hand, even for a
an efficient optical antenna. Surface plasmon polar- perfect conductor, it was shown that surface waves can
itons do not exist in the ideal case of a perfect exist if the surface is structured, e.g. with periodic
 420 Q-H. Park

supported in part by KOSEF, KRF, MOCIE and the Seoul

R & BD program.

Notes on contributor
Q-Han Park is Professor of
Physics at the Korea Univer-
sity. He received his Ph.D.
in 1987 from the Brandeis
University and worked as a
postdoc at the University of
Maryland and in S.W. Hawk-
ing’s group at DAMTP, Uni-
Figure 10. Electric field vector map. Arrows specify versity of Cambridge. His
magnitude and direction of electric field vectors at each research area before the year
positions. 2000 was string theory and
integrable models. He got
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interested in optical solitons around the year 2000 and

grooves [110]. Structures in a metal surface modifies switched his research area to optics during his sabbatical visit
to the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester. Now his
the dispersion property of surface plasmon polaritons
main research interest is in nanoscale optics and plasmonics.
in a controlled way [111,112]. In antenna applications, His current work is focused on optical antennas, nano-
grooves on the walls of a horn antenna were used to particles, computational nano-optics, and investigations of
eliminate the spurious diffractions at the edges of the new type metamaterials.
aperture [113]. Structured surface can be applied to
optical antennas as well [74]. The combination of local
plasmonic resonance and structural surface plasmon References
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