Enhanced light-matter interaction at nanoscale by utilizing high-aspect-ratio metallic gratings

We report the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of high-aspect-ratio metallic gratings integrated with nanoscale semiconductor structures, which enable efficient light-matter interaction at the nanoscale over interaction lengths as long as two times of the effective optical wavelength. The efficient light-matter interaction at the nanoscale is enabled by excitation of the guided modes of subwavelength slab waveguides formed by the high-aspect-ratio metallic gratings. By controlling the height of the high-aspect-ratio gratings, the wavelength of the guided modes through the nanoscale semiconductor structures is determined.