Mid-infrared nanophotonics based on antennas and transmission lines

Metal antennas and transmission lines are common devices for receiving and transporting signals in the radiofrequency regime. Here, we demonstrate that by reducing the size down to the micrometer range, these devices can be operated at infrared frequencies (∼30 THz) [1,2]. We apply our recently introduced vector near-field microscopy technique [3] for directly visualizing the reception and transport of infrared energy [4]. The combination of antenna plus transmission line is a promising platform technology for designing future mid-infrared devices which require subwavelength-scale integration.