Experimental and theoretical investigation of silver-coated ZnO nanorod arrays as antennas for the visible and near-IR spectral range

A new design of optical antennas consisting of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods covered by a thin metal film is proposed. Arrays of highly oriented ZnO nanorods perpendicular to a substrate and covered by a thin silver film have been obtained using methods of carbothermal synthesis and magnetron sputtering. The problems of electromagnetic wave diffraction on a single metal/dielectric nanovibrator (situated at the interface of dielectrics) and on a two-dimensional periodic array of these nanovibrators have been solved. The results of calculations of the electrodynamic characteristics of optical antennas with various lengths have been compared to experimental data.