Transmission of light through small elliptical apertures

The results of computer simulations based on the Finite Difference Time Domain method with local space and time grid refinement, are presented for an elliptical aperture in a thin metal film illuminated by a normally incident, monochromatic plane wave. Both cases of incident polarization parallel and perpendicular to the long axis of the ellipse are considered. An intuitive description of the behavior of the electromagnetic fields is developed in each case, and simulation results that exhibit patterns similar to those expected from this qualitative analysis are presented. The simulations reveal, in quantitative detail, the amplitude and phase behavior of the E- and B-fields in and around the aperture. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.