Squeezing Millimeter Waves through a Single, Nanometer-wide, Centimeter-long Slit

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https://www.nature.com/articles/srep06722

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https://doi.org/10.1038/srep06722
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/29225

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UMBC Physics Department
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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6370-8765

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2014-10-24

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journal articles
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Chen, X., Park, HR., Lindquist, N. et al. Squeezing Millimeter Waves through a Single, Nanometer-wide, Centimeter-long Slit. Sci Rep 4, 6722 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep06722

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Abstract

We demonstrate broadband non-resonant squeezing of terahertz (THz) waves through an isolated 2-nm-wide, 2-cm-long slit (aspect ratio of 10⁷), representing a maximum intensity enhancement factor of one million. Unlike resonant nanogap structures, a single, effectively infinitely-long slit passes incident electromagnetic waves with no cutoff, enhances the electric field within the gap with a broad 1/f spectral response and eliminates interference effects due to finite sample boundaries and adjacent elements. To construct such a uniform, isolated slit that is much longer than the millimeter-scale spot of a THz beam, we use atomic layer lithography to pattern vertical nanogaps in a metal film over an entire 4-inch wafer. We observe an increasing field enhancement as the slit width decreases from 20 nm to 2 nm, in agreement with numerical calculations.