No Arabic abstract
For a periodic structure sandwiched between two homogeneous media, a bound state in the continuum (BIC) is a guided Bloch mode with a frequency in the radiation continuum. Optical BICs have found many applications, mainly because they give rise to resonances with ultra-high quality factors. If the periodic structure has a relevant symmetry, a BIC may have a symmetry mismatch with incoming and outgoing propagating waves of the same frequency and compatible wavevectors, and is considered as protected by symmetry. Propagating BICs with nonzero Bloch wavevectors have been found on many highly symmetric periodic structures. They are not protected by symmetry in the usual sense (i.e., there is no symmetry mismatch), but some of them seem to depend on symmetry for their existence and robustness. In this paper, we show that the low-frequency propagating BICs (with only one radiation channel) on biperiodic structures with an inversion symmetry in the plane of periodicity and a reflection symmetry in the perpendicular direction are robust to symmetry-preserving structural perturbations. In other words, a propagating BIC continues its existence with a slightly different frequency and a slightly different Bloch wavevector, when the biperiodic structure is perturbed slightly preserving the inversion and reflection symmetries. Our study enhances theoretical understanding for BICs on periodic structures and provides useful guidelines for their applications.
Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are trapped or guided modes with frequencies in radiation continua. They are associated with high-quality-factor resonances that give rise to strong local field enhancement and rapid variations in scattering spectra, and have found many valuable applications. A guided mode of an optical waveguide can also be a BIC, if there is a lateral structure supporting compatible waves propagating in the lateral direction, i.e., there is a channel for lateral leakage. A BIC is typically destroyed (becomes a resonant or a leaky mode) if the structure is slightly perturbed, but some BICs are robust with respect to a large family of perturbations. In this paper, we show (analytically and numerically) that a typical BIC in optical waveguides with a left-right mirror symmetry and a single lateral leakage channel is robust with respect to any structural perturbation that preserves the left-right mirror symmetry. Our study improves the theoretical understanding on BICs and can be useful when applications of BICs in optical waveguides are explored.
A periodic structure sandwiched between two homogeneous media can support bound states in the continuum (BICs) that are valuable for many applications. It is known that generic BICs in periodic structures with an up-down mirror symmetry and an in-plane inversion symmetry are robust with respect to structural perturbations that preserve these two symmetries. For two-dimensional (2D) structures with one periodic direction and the up-down mirror symmetry (without the in-plane inversion symmetry), it was recently established that some scalar BICs can be found by tuning a single structural parameter. In this paper, we analyze vectorial BICs in such 2D structures, and show that a typical vectorial BIC with nonzero wavenumbers in both the invariant and the periodic directions can only be found by tuning two structural parameters. Using an all-order perturbation method, we prove that such a vectorial BIC exists as a curve in the 3D space of three generic parameters. Our theory is validated by numerical examples involving periodic arrays of dielectric cylinders. The numerical results also illustrate the conservation of topological charge when structural parameters are varied, if both BICs and circularly polarized states (CPSs) are included. Our study reveals a fundamental property of BICs in periodic structure and provides a systematically approach for finding BICs in structures with less symmetry.
On dielectric periodic structures with a reflection symmetry in a periodic direction, there can be antisymmetric standing waves (ASWs) that are symmetry-protected bound states in the continuum (BICs). The BICs have found many applications, mainly because they give rise to resonant modes of extremely large quality-factors ($Q$-factors). The ASWs are robust to symmetric perturbations of the structure, but they become resonant modes if the perturbation is non-symmetric. The $Q$-factor of a resonant mode on a perturbed structure is typically $O(1/delta^2)$ where $delta$ is the amplitude of the perturbation, but special perturbations can produce resonant modes with larger $Q$-factors. For two-dimensional (2D) periodic structures with a 1D periodicity, we derive conditions on the perturbation profile such that the $Q$-factors are $O(1/delta^4)$ or $O(1/delta^6)$. For the unperturbed structure, an ASW is surrounded by resonant modes with a nonzero Bloch wave vector. For 2D periodic structures, the $Q$-factors of nearby resonant modes are typically $O(1/beta^2)$, where $beta$ is the Bloch wavenumber. We show that the $Q$-factors can be $O(1/beta^6)$ if the ASW satisfies a simple condition.
Resonant modes in a lossy periodic structure sandwiched between two lossless homogeneous media form bands that depend on the Bloch wavevector continuously and have a complex frequency due to radiation and absorption losses. A complex bound state in the continuum (cBIC) is a special state with a zero radiation loss in such a band. Plane waves incident upon the periodic structure induce local fields that are resonantly enhanced. In this paper, we derive a rigorous formula for field enhancement, and analyze its dependence on the frequency, wavevector and amplitude of the incident wave. For resonances with multiple radiation channels, we determine the incident wave that maximizes the field enhancement, and find conditions under which the field enhancement can be related to the radiation and dissipation quality factors. We also show that with respect to the Bloch wavevector, the largest field enhancement is obtained approximately when the radiation and dissipation quality factors are equal. Our study clarifies the various factors related to field enhancement, and provides a useful guideline for applications where a strong local field is important.
We introduce the concept and a generic approach to realize Extreme Huygens Metasurfaces by bridging the concepts of Huygens conditions and optical bound states in the continuum. This novel paradigm allows creating Huygens metasurfaces whose quality factors can be tuned over orders of magnitudes, generating extremely dispersive phase modulation. We validate this concept with a proof-of-concept experiment at the near-infrared wavelengths, demonstrating all-dielectric Huygens metasurfaces with different quality factors. Our study points out a practical route for controlling the radiative decay rate while maintaining the Huygens condition, complementing existing Huygens metasurfaces whose bandwidths are relatively broad and complicated to tune. This novel feature can provide new insight for various applications, including optical sensing, dispersion engineering and pulse-shaping, tunable metasurfaces, metadevices with high spectral selectivity, and nonlinear meta-optics.