title: Anomalous light absorption around subwavelength apertures in metal films.
abstract: In this Letter, we study the heat dissipated at metal surfaces by the electromagnetic field scattered by isolated subwavelength apertures in metal screens. In contrast to the common belief that the intensity of waves created by local sources should decrease with the distance from the sources, we reveal that the dissipated heat at the surface remains constant over a broad spatial interval. This behavior that occurs for noble metals at near infrared wavelengths is observed with nonintrusive thermoreflectance measurements and is explained with an analytical model, which underlines the intricate role played by quasicylindrical waves in the phenomenon. Additionally, we show that, by monitoring the phase of the quasicylindrical waves, the total heat dissipated at the metal surface can be rendered substantially smaller than the heat dissipated by the launched plasmon. This interesting property offers an alternative to amplification for overcoming the loss issue in miniaturized plasmonic devices.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Onde et Matière d'Aquitaine (LOMA) UMR 5798, CNRS-Université de Bordeaux, 33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lozan
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Onde et Matière d'Aquitaine (LOMA) UMR 5798, CNRS-Université de Bordeaux, 33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perrin
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Charles Fabry, UMR 5298, CNRS-IOGS-Université Paris XI, Institut d'Optique, 91120 Palaiseau, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ea-Kim
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Onde et Matière d'Aquitaine (LOMA) UMR 5798, CNRS-Université de Bordeaux, 33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rampnoux
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Onde et Matière d'Aquitaine (LOMA) UMR 5798, CNRS-Université de Bordeaux, 33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dilhaire
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Photonique, Numérique et Nanosciences (LP2N), UMR 5298, CNRS-IOGS-Université de Bordeaux, Institut d'Optique d'Aquitaine, 33400 Talence, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lalanne