Angular spectrum analysis of near-field diffraction of a small aperture

The near-field diffraction of a nanometer aperture is studied in this paper according to the angular spectrum theory. The mathematic expressions of the near-field diffraction are presented, and the influences of the polarization of the electromagnetic field and the evanescent wave on the diffraction in near field are analyzed by means of vector and scalar diffraction theory, respectively. The transverse and longitudinal diffraction intensity distributions of a small aperture are numerically calculated, and the results show the near-field diffraction of a small aperture is influenced strongly by the vector property of the electromagnetic field and the evanescent component.