OPTICAL MAGNETIC NEAR-FIELD INTENSITIES AROUND NANOMETER-SCALE SURFACE-STRUCTURES

Recently, local probes used in optical experiments added a new dimensi on to the study of the optical properties of small particles lying on a surface. Until now, several theoretical frameworks, developed to und erstand the interaction of optical fields with mesoscopic and nanoscop ic objects, emphasized mainly the prediction of the electric near-fiel d distributions generated by these structures. This paper demonstrates how such subwavelength dielectric surface structures also produce a p articular confinement of the optical magnetic near field when the samp le is illuminated by a surface wave.