On periodic structures, a bound state in the continuum (BIC) is a standing or propagating Bloch wave with a frequency in the radiation continuum. Some BICs (e.g., antisymmetric standing waves) are symmetry protected, since they have incompatible symmetry with outgoing waves in the radiation channels. The propagating BICs do not have this symmetry mismatch, but they still crucially depend on the symmetry of the structure. In this Letter, a perturbation theory is developed for propagating BICs on two-dimensional periodic structures. The Letter shows that these BICs are robust against structural perturbations that preserve the symmetry, indicating that these BICs, in fact, are implicitly protected by symmetry.

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Optical bound states in the radiation continuum (BICs) have interesting properties and potentially important applications. On periodic structures, the BICs are guided modes above the lightline, and they can be either standing waves or propagating Bloch modes. A one-dimensional (1D) array of circular dielectric cylinders is probably the simplest structure on which different types of BICs exist. Using a highly efficient numerical method, we perform an extensive numerical study for propagating BICs on 1D arrays of circular dielectric cylinders. In addition to the known Bloch BIC which is symmetric with respect to the axis of the array, we obtain a new BIC which is antisymmetric. The existence domains (in the plane of radius and dielectric constant of the cylinders) of both BICs are determined. The boundaries of these domains correspond to either standing waves which are not protected by symmetry or the opening of the second diffraction channel. Numerical results are also presented to illustrate the discontinuities of transmission and reflection coefficients at the BICs, and the resonant behavior near the BICs.

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A Fourier-matching pseudospectral modal method [PSMM(f)] is developed for analyzing lamellar diffraction gratings or grating stacks. A Chebyshev pseudospectral method is first used to accurately calculate the eigenmodes of the grating layers, and then the Fourier coefficients are matched at the interfaces between the layers. Compared with an existing pseudospectral modal method based on point matching, the PSMM(f) is more robust and accurate. The method performs better than the standard Fourier modal method for gratings involving metals.

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are trapped or guided modes with their frequencies in the frequency intervals of the radiation modes. On periodic structures, a BIC is surrounded by a family of resonant modes with their quality factors approaching infinity. Typically the quality factors are proportional to 1/|β − β * | 2 , where β and β * are the Bloch wavevectors of the resonant modes and the BIC, respectively. But for some special BICs, the quality factors are proportional to 1/|β − β * | 4 . In this paper, a general condition is derived for such special BICs on two-dimensional periodic structures. As a numerical example, we use the general condition to calculate special BICs, which are antisymmetric standing waves, on a periodic array of circular cylinders, and show their dependence on parameters. The special BICs are important for practical applications, because they produce resonances with large quality factors for a very large range of β.

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On dielectric periodic structures with a reflection symmetry in a periodic direction, there can be antisymmetric standing waves (ASWs) that are symmetry-protected bound states in the continuum (BICs). The BICs have found many applications, mainly because they give rise to resonant modes of extremely large quality-factors (Q-factors). The ASWs are robust to symmetric perturbations of the structure, but they become resonant modes if the perturbation is non-symmetric. The Q-factor of a resonant mode on a perturbed structure is typically O(1/δ 2 ) where δ is the amplitude of the perturbation, but special perturbations can produce resonant modes with larger Q-factors. For twodimensional (2D) periodic structures with a 1D periodicity, we derive conditions on the perturbation profile such that the Q-factors are O(1/δ 4 ) or O(1/δ 6 ). For the unperturbed structure, an ASW is surrounded by resonant modes with a nonzero Bloch wave vector. For 2D periodic structures, the Q-factors of nearby resonant modes are typically O(1/β 2 ), where β is the Bloch wavenumber. We show that the Q-factors can be O(1/β 6 ) if the ASW satisfies a simple condition.