Extraordinary transmission of electromagnetic waves through sub-wavelength slot arrays mediated by spoof surface plasmon polaritons

One-dimensional gratings consisting of sub-wavelength metallic slot arrays have been widely applied in the design of novel devices due to their polarization-selective characteristics. When the incident electric field is polarized along the slot direction, the slot arrays are opaque, behaving like a metal surface. Here we propose a scheme of making slot arrays transparent for electromagnetic (EM) waves, which is achieved by the incorporation of corrugated metal strip arrays. Incident waves are first converted into spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) propagating along the strips. Since SSPPs confine EM fields in sub-wavelength scales, EM waves can penetrate through the sub-wavelength slots. High transmission was thus obtained, with an efficiency as high as 95%. Moreover, position and bandwidth of the transmission band can be tailored by adjusting the groove depth and the slot width, respectively. It is expected that the design may find potential applications in the multifunctional devices with frequency- and polarization-selective features.