Extremely large extinction efficiency and field enhancement in terahertz resonant dipole nanoantennas

Opt Express. 2011 Dec 19;19(27):26088-94. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.026088.

Abstract

The distinctive ability of nanometallic structures to manipulate light at the nanoscale has recently promoted their use for a spectacular set of applications in a wide range of areas of research including artificial optical materials, nano-imaging, biosensing, and nonlinear optics. Here we transfer this concept to the terahertz spectral region, demonstrating a metal nanostructure in shape of a dipole nanoantenna, which can efficiently resonate at terahertz frequencies, showing an effective cross section >100 times larger than its geometrical area, and a field enhancement factor of ~280, confined on a lateral section of ~λ/1,000. These results lead to immediate applications in terahertz artificial materials exhibiting giant dichroism, suggest the use of dipole nanoantennas in nanostructure-based terahertz metamaterials, and pave the way for nanoantenna-enhanced terahertz few-molecule spectroscopy and localized terahertz nonlinear optics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Materials Testing
  • Metal Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Metal Nanoparticles / ultrastructure*
  • Terahertz Radiation*