Enhancing light by blocking the holes they are emitted from

Princeton University engineers accidentally discovered that in small scale physics, light transmission can be enhanced up to 70 percent by placing an opaque metal cap over (blocking) tiny holes in metal film. The light was enhanced regardless of the side of the metal the light passed through. The disk acts as an “antenna” that carries on and radiates electromagnetic waves. This discovery will force scientist to change, or at least rethink, whether techniques involving microscopic holes created by dust particles on glass coated in metal film (intended to block light) are useful.  Engineers are already investigating how the effect can be used to enhance ultrasensitive detector performance.

SOURCE: Nanowerk