Resonant Transmission Through a Single Subwavelength Slit for Varied Metallic Permittivities and Its Modal Orthogonality

This article investigates resonant transmission phenomena through a single metallic subwavelength slit when the permittivity of a real metal varies. The single metallic slit is utilized as a metal–insulator–metal waveguide, and a mode-matching technique is employed to obtain the transmitted power. The periodic resonant transmission phenomena (in terms of the metallic plate thickness) are solved, and the resonances can be understood by their guide wavelengths. Even when the permittivity of the real metal includes imaginary parts (i.e., metal with loss), the resonant transmittances are obtained. However, the peaks of the transmittances decrease, as the plate thickness increases. The orthogonal relationship of an incomplete orthogonal set is maintained despite metallic loss (given a relatively small amount of loss), due to the complex permittivity of the real metal.