Magnetic field enhancement at optical frequencies through diffraction coupling of magnetic plasmon resonances in metamaterials

Abstract

We studied theoretically the diffraction coupling of magnetic resonances in metamaterials consisting of a planar rectangular array of metal rod pairs with a dielectric spacer. A narrow-band mixed mode was observed due to a strong interaction between magnetic resonances in individual pairs of metal rods and an in-plane propagating collective surface mode arising from the array periodicity. Upon the excitation of this mixed mode, a five-fold enhancement of magnetic field in the dielectric spacer was achieved as compared with the purely magnetic resonance. It was also found that only a collective surface mode with its magnetic field parallel to the array plane could mediate the excitation of such a mixed mode. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.83.041402 Received 8 September 2010Revised 3 December 2010Published 10 January 2011© 2011 American Physical Society