Brillouin zone folding driven bound states in the continuum

Abstract Non-radiative bound states in the continuum (BICs) allow construction of resonant cavities with confined electromagnetic energy and high-quality (Q) factors. However, the sharp decay of the Q factor in the momentum space limits their usefulness for device applications. Here we demonstrate a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wenhao Wang, Yogesh Kumar Srivastava, Thomas CaiWei Tan, Zhiming Wang, Ranjan Singh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2023-05-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38367-y
Description
Summary:Abstract Non-radiative bound states in the continuum (BICs) allow construction of resonant cavities with confined electromagnetic energy and high-quality (Q) factors. However, the sharp decay of the Q factor in the momentum space limits their usefulness for device applications. Here we demonstrate an approach to achieve sustainable ultrahigh Q factors by engineering Brillouin zone folding-induced BICs (BZF-BICs). All the guided modes are folded into the light cone through periodic perturbation that leads to the emergence of BZF-BICs possessing ultrahigh Q factors throughout the large, tunable momentum space. Unlike conventional BICs, BZF-BICs show perturbation-dependent dramatic enhancement of the Q factor in the entire momentum space and are robust against structural disorders. Our work provides a unique design path for BZF-BIC-based silicon metasurface cavities with extreme robustness against disorder while sustaining ultrahigh Q factors, offering potential applications in terahertz devices, nonlinear optics, quantum computing, and photonic integrated circuits.
ISSN:2041-1723