Resonant transmission and beaming of cold atoms assisted by surface matter waves

We study in detail the appearance of the phenomenon of resonant transmission of matter waves cold noninteracting atoms through subwavelength apertures. We show how the emergence of this effect, first reported for electromagnetic waves, is associated with the excitation of surface matter waves, the analog of surface plasmon polaritons in the electromagnetic case. We describe the similarities and differences for the one-dimensional array of slits and two-dimensional array of holes cases. In this last structure, extraordinary transmission of matter waves is theoretically predicted. Finally, we also study the existence of the beaming effect for matter waves in single apertures flanked by periodic corrugations.