Diffractive Guiding of Waves by a Periodic Array of Slits

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that waves can be guided by periodically truncating their edges, with experimental evidence for plasmonic and water waves, showing a universal guiding principle across different wave types.

Contribution

It introduces a novel wave guiding method using periodic edge truncation, supported by experimental validation for multiple wave phenomena.

Findings

Wave modes propagate freely between slits

Propagation pattern repeats periodically

Applicable to various wave types

Abstract

We show that in order to guide waves, it is sufficient to periodically truncate their edges. The modes supported by this type of wave guide propagate freely between the slits, and the propagation pattern repeats itself. We experimentally demonstrate this general wave phenomenon for two types of waves: (i) plasmonic waves propagating on a metal-air interface that are periodically blocked by nanometric metallic walls, and (ii) surface gravity water waves whose evolution is recorded, the packet is truncated, and generated again to show repeated patterns. This guiding concept is applicable for a wide variety of waves.