Nearly total optical extinction in arrays of non-resonant nanorods

We provide the first experimental evidence of sharp resonant extinction in free-standing arrays of non-resonant dielectric nanorods. Nearly perfect optical extinction is shown for transparent material. High-resolution optical measurements (absolute transmission and reflection) of one dimensional gratings with very low fill factors have been obtained. The results can be fully explained by coherent multiple scattering in arrays of non-resonant subwavelength nanorods and are in good agreement with an analytical model.