Super Quasibound State in the Continuum

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.20.L011003

Avoided crossing of resonances and merging multiple bound states in the continuum (BICs) are parallel means for tailoring the physical properties of BICs. Herein, we introduce a concept of super quasi-BIC for photonic crystal (PhC) systems where its quality ($Q$) factor is boosted in both parametric and momentum spaces. A super quasi-BIC with substantial enhancement of $Q$ factor can be achieved in a finite PhC by combining avoided crossing of two symmetry-protected (SP) quasi-BICs in parametric space and merging BICs in momentum space simultaneously. Of note, analytical theory shows that the proposed mechanism results in the transition of asymptotic behavior of the $Q$ factor over the numbers of resonators from $N^2$ to exclusive $N^3$ for SP BICs, which is highly significant for realizing quasi-BICs in a compact PhC. Microwave experiments are performed to validate the theoretical results. Our results provide a paradigm shift for manipulating the physical properties quasi-BICs in finite PhC structures, which can also be generalized to the two-dimensional PhC slab case. It would facilitate various applications, including but not limited to low-threshold lasing and high figure-of-merit sensing, etc