Flaw of photonic band structure and its implication for photonic bound state in the continuum

Abstract

We show a flaw in the photonic band structure which forms the basis of our understanding of crystal momentum in photonic systems. We investigate the origin of this flaw and propose a continuous-folded band structure as the rectification. Based on the proposed continuous-folded photonic band structure, a bound state in the continuum (BIC) is actually below the light line, similar to the conventional guided modes. We present the condition for the boundedness of photonic modes and verify the effectiveness of our condition via two photonic crystal slabs with resonance-trapped BIC and symmetry-protected BIC, respectively. In the second case, our condition of boundedness correctly indicates a radiative mode, which satisfies the condition of symmetry-protected BIC.