Enhanced transmission through rough-metal surfaces

Abstract

The enhanced-transmission effect, manifested as a narrow peak in the angular distribution of the intensity of diffuse scattered light in the antispecular direction, was experimentally investigated by passage of a p-polarized laser beam through a metal film deposited upon a glass substrate. The peak is the analog of enhanced backscattering in the reflection of light from a randomly rough-metal surface. A fully automated, bidirectional reflectometer was used to measure the enhanced transmission of surfaces coated with gold and silver under illumination by a He-Ne laser. The experimental results are compared with those obtained recently by a perturbation theory of the localization of surface polaritons.