Terahertz-wave near-field imaging with subwavelength resolution using surface-wave-assisted bow-tie aperture

We demonstrate the terahertz-wave near-field imaging with subwavelength resolution using a bow-tie shaped aperture surrounded by concentric periodic structures in a metal film. A subwavelength aperture with concentric periodic grooves, which are known as a bull's eye structure, shows extremely large enhanced transmission beyond the diffraction limit caused by the resonant excitation of surface waves. Additionally, a bow-tie aperture exhibits extraordinary field enhancement at the sharp tips of the metal, which enhances the transmission and the subwavelength spatial resolution. We introduced a bow-tie aperture to the bull's eye structure and achieved high spatial resolution (∼λ17) in the near-field region. The terahertz-wave near-field image of the subwavelength metal pattern (pattern width=20 μm) was obtained for the wavelength of 207 μm.