  We investigate electromagnetic scattering from nanoscale wires and reveal for
the first time, the emergence of a family of exotic resonances, or enhanced
fields, for source waves close to grazing incidence. These grazing resonances
can have a much higher Q factor, broader bandwidth, and are much less
susceptible to material losses than the well known surface plasmon resonances
found in metal nanowires. Contrary to surface plasmon resonances however, these
grazing resonances can be excited in both dielectric and metallic nanowires and
are insensitive to the polarization state of the incident wave. This peculiar
resonance effect originates from the excitation of long range guided surface
waves through the interplay of coherently scattered continuum modes coupled
with the azimuthal first order propagating mode of the cylindrical nanowire.
The nanowire resonance phenomenon revealed here can be utilized in broad
scientific areas, including: metamaterial designs, nanophotonic integration,
nanoantennas, and nanosensors.
