Evolution of polarization singularities accompanied by avoided crossing in plasmonic system

The evolution of polarization singularities supported in a one-dimensional periodic plasmonic system is studied.The lateral inversion symmetry of the system,which breaks the in-plane inversion symmetry and up-down mirror symmetry simultaneously,yields abundant polarization states.A complete evolution process with geometry for the polarization states is traced.In the evolution,circularly polarized points(C points)can stem from 3 different processes.In addition to the previously reported processes occurring in an isolated band,a new type of C point appearing in two bands simultaneously due to the avoided band crossing,is observed.Unlike the dielectric system with a similar structure which only supports at-Γbound states in the continuum(BICs),accidental BICs off theΓpoint are realized in this plasmonic system.This work provides a new scheme of polarization manipulation for the plasmonic systems.

PT Symmetry Induced Rings of Lasing Threshold Modes Embedded with Discrete Bound States in the Continuum

It is well known that spatial symmetry in a photonic crystal(PhC)slab is capable of creating bound states in the continuum(BICs),which can be characterized by topological charges of polarization vortices.Here,we show that when a PT-symmetric perturbation is introduced into the PhC slab,a new type of BICs(pt-BICs)will arise from each ordinary BIC together with the creation of rings of lasing threshold modes with pt-BICs embedded in these rings.Different from ordinary BICs,the Q-factor divergence rate of a pt-BIC is reduced and anisotropic in momentum space.Also,pt-BICs can even appear at off-high symmetry lines of the Brillouin zone.The pt-BICs also carry topological charges and can be created or annihilated with the total charge conserved.A unified picture on pt-BICs and the associated lasing threshold modes is given based on the temporal coupled mode theory.Our findings reveal the new physics arising from the interplay between PT symmetry and BIC in PhC slabs.

Bound states in the continuum on perfect conducting reflection gratings

Bound states can be supported on the surface of a periodically corrugated perfect conductor known as spoof surface plasmon polaritons with their dispersion curves reside below the light line.Here we show that bound states in the continuum(BICs)can also be achieved in such systems.Two types of grating structures are proposed to suppress the radiation leakage and hence generate bound states.The first one is a simple grating with broad grooves in which multiple cavity modes are accommodated.Due to the symmetry incompatibility and the destructive interaction mainly from the TM_(0)and TM_(1)modes,BICs at theΓpoint and at off-Γpoints are both realized.The second one is a dimerized grating with two grooves in each unit cell.The destructive interaction between the modes in the two grooves can suppresses the radiation and BICs at theΓpoint are observed.The Q factors of the whole bands can be further tuned by the dimerization strength effectively.This work may offer new opportunity for the applications of metallic grating in the low frequency bands.

Bound States in the Continuum in One-Dimensional Dimerized Plasmonic Gratings

A simple one-dimensional subwavelength plasmonic grating can support symmetry protected bound states in the continuum(BICs),but not necessarily for the non-symmetry protected BICs.By dimerizing the lattice,nonsymmetry protected BIC can be supported on the dimerized grating and can be tuned readily.The mechanism for the BICs in the dimerized grating is interpreted in the viewpoint of interference between the electromagnetic multipoles.