Super Quasibound State in the Continuum

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.