Coupling between plasmonic nanohole array and nanorod array: the emerging of a new extraordinary optical transmission mode and epsilon-near-zero property

The compound Ag nanohole structures with an Ag nanorod in the middle of an Ag nanohole are investigated by finite-difference-time-domain calculations. The structure shows strong polarization-dependent optical properties. A new extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) mode is observed when the polarization direction is aligned with the long axis of the nanorods, and its resonance wavelength red-shifts exponentially with the nanorod length. Around this resonance wavelength, the real part of the effective permittivity also becomes zero, demonstrating the epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) property. The new EOT mode is found to be the result of the enhanced local radiation of the nanorods as well as the electromagnetic coupling to the nanoholes to produce the enhanced transmission. The tunable resonance wavelength, EOT, strong near-field enhancement, and ENZ properties make the structure ideal for many potential applications, such as ultrathin optical filter, polarizers, surface-enhanced spectroscopies, etc. (paper)