title: Creation and annihilation of phase singularities near a sub-wavelength slit.
abstract: The anomalously-high transmission of light through subwavelength apertures is a phenomenon which has been observed in numerous experiments, but whose theoretical explanation is incomplete. In this article we present a numerical analysis of the power fl ow (characterized by the Poynting vector)of the electromagnetic fi eld near a sub-wavelength sized slit in a thin metal plate, and demonstrate that the enhanced transmission is accompanied by the annihilation of phase singularities in the power fl ow near the slit.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schouten
authors.forename: Taco
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gbur
authors.forename: Daan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lenstra
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Blok