Anomalous absorptance by stacked metallic cylinders

We study the transmission, reflection and absorptance of light by stacked p eriodic gratings consisting of circular metallic wires. We show that the ab sorptance by such structures of light that is polarized with its electric f ield parallel to the wires can be anomalously large over a wide wavelength band in the near infrared, especially when the wires are thin. We relate th e anomalous absorptance to the lowest propagating mode of the corresponding photonic crystal. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights r eserved.