Optical transmission through an interface between subwavelength slits

This paper studies optical transmission through an interface between two slits with different widths in a sheet composed of an ideal conductor. Such a structure is of potential use in fabricating optical diode and may be the simplest one compared to other designs. Our calculations show that there is a critical wavelength. When the light wavelength is below the critical wavelength, the transmissivity is unidirectional. The expression of the stable transmissivity as a function of the ratio of the widths of the two slits was obtained analytically. Particularly, at the critical wavelength, the transmissivities are zero. This phenomenon has great potential for application in the manufacture of wavelength blockers. (C) 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.