title: Near-field analysis of surface waves launched at nanoslit apertures.
abstract: With the aim of analyzing the properties of the waves that are scattered by nanoslits on metallic surfaces, we provide a direct observation of the near-field in a slit-doublet experiment at optical wavelengths. We show that two distinct waves are involved: a surface plasmon polariton and another wave with a free-space character. From the recorded data, we have extracted the amplitudes and phases of these waves, their damping characteristic lengths and their relative weights as a function of the separation distance from the slit. The analysis is fully supported by a quantitative agreement with vector-theory computational results.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Spectroscopie en Lumière Polarisée, UPR CNRS 5, ESPCI, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75231 Paris Cedex 5, France. aigouy@optique.espci.fr
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aigouy
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lalanne
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hugonin
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Julié
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mathet
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mortier