Slit waveguide based terahertz near-field microscopy: Prospects and limitations

We experimentally and numerically investigate the transmission of single cycle terahertz pulses through subwavelength slit apertures featuring zero cutoff frequency and very low attenuation. Employing a polaritonic approach we demonstrate that wave forms transmitted through slit samples with slit widths as small as lambda/1000 can be visualized and analyze the applicability of this approach to terahertz near-field microscopy. Finite element simulations are used to quantitatively investigate resolution limitations due to imperfect experimental configurations. Our results show that resolutions on the scale of the slit width are possible; however, they demand an accurate control of the distance between the imaging aperture and the sample. This is because the presence of small gaps leads to around-the-bend waveguiding effects resulting in a significant reduction of the attainable resolution.