Influence of skin depth on the transmission properties of arrays of metallic subwavelength holes in the visible spectral

Abstract The extraordinary transmission properties of optical light through arrays of subwavelength metal holes have been investigated. The effects of geometrical parameters and dielectric materials filling in the hole on transmission properties have been given and discussed. The results demonstrate that at optical frequencies the skin depth of metal is comparable to the subwavelength hole size and should be taken into account. There may exist an optimal hole width and lattice constant, where transmittance reach the maximum. As the refractive index of dielectric materials filling in the hole increases, the transmittance spectra increases and shows more peaks.