Resonantly Trapped Bound State in the Continuum Laser

2015/08/21 by Thomas Lepetit, Qing Gu, Ashok Kodigala +3 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #physics.optics

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/nature20799

11 pages, 4 figures

arxiv created 2015/08/21 · arxiv updated 2017/02/02

Abstract

Cavities play a fundamental role in wave phenomena from quantum mechanics to electromagnetism and dictate the spatiotemporal physics of lasers. In general, they are constructed by closing all "doors" through which waves can escape. We report, at room temperature, a bound state in the continuum laser that harnesses optical modes residing in the radiation continuum but nonetheless may possess arbitrarily high quality factors. These counterintuitive cavities are based on resonantly trapped symmetry-compatible modes that destructively interfere. Our experimental demonstration opens exciting avenues towards coherent sources with intriguing topological properties for optical trapping, biological imaging, and quantum communication.

Cited by

• Optical Resonances: From Eigenmodes to Scattering Features
• The continuous spectrum of bound states in expulsive potentials: self-trapping in the linear system
• Self-Decelerating Bright Exciton-Polariton Solitons in Bound-State-in-Continuum Microcavities

Related

• Towards Hosting Bound State in Continuum in Specialty Optical Microcavity
• Reciprocal Quantum Electrodynamics with Bound States in the Continuum
• Dual bound states in the continuum in metamaterials
• Formation of Quasi-Bound States in the Continuum in a Single Deformed Microcavity
• Individual nanoantennas empowered by bound states in the continuum for nonlinear photonics