Enhanced transmission through a subwavelength aperture using metamaterials

We report an enhanced transmission through a single circular subwavelength aperture that is incorporated with a split ring resonator (SRR) at the microwave regime. Transmission enhancement factors as high as 530 were observed in the experiments when the SRR was located in front of the aperture in order to efficiently couple the electric field component of the incident electromagnetic wave at SRR’s electrical resonance frequency. The experimental results were supported by numerical analyses. The physical origin of the transmission enhancement phenomenon was discussed by examining the induced surface currents on the structures.