Near-field optical thin microcavity theory

The thin microcavity theory for near-field optics is proposed in this study. By applying the power flow theorem and the variable theorem,the bi-harmonic differential governing equation for electromagnetic field of a three-dimensional thin microcavity is derived for the first time. Then by using the Hankel transform, this governing equation is solved exactly and all the electromagnetic components inside and outside the microcavity can be obtained accurately. According to the above theory, the near-field optical diffraction from a subwavelength aperture embedded in a thin conducting film is investigated, and numerical computations are performed to illustrate the edge effect by an enhancement factor of 1.8 and the depolarization phenomenon of the near-field transmission in terms of the distance from the film surface. This thin microcavity theory is verified by the good agreement between our results and those in the previous literatures. The thin microcavity theory presented in the study should be useful in the possible applications of the thin microcavities in near-field optics and thin-film optics.