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Resonant dielectric planar structures can interact selectively with light of particular helicity thus providing an attractive platform for chiral flat optics. The absence of mirror-symmetry planes defines geometric chirality, and it remains the main condition for achieving strong circular dichroism. For planar optical structures such as photonic-crystal membranes and metasurfaces, breaking of out-of-plane mirror symmetry is especially challenging, as it requires to fabricate meta-atoms with a tilt, variable height, or vertically shifted positions. Although transparent substrates formally break out-of-plane mirror symmetries, their optical effect is typically subtle being rarely considered for enhancing optical chirality. Here we reveal that low-refractive-index substrates can induce up to maximum optical chirality in otherwise achiral metastructures so that the transparency to waves of one helicity is combined with resonant blocking of waves of the opposite helicity. This effect originates from engineering twisted photonic eigenstates of different parities. Our perturbation analysis developed in terms of the resonant-state expansion reveals how the eigenstate coupling induced by a substrate gives rise to a pair of chiral resonances of opposite handedness. Our general theory is confirmed by the specific examples of light transmission in the normal and oblique directions by a rotation-symmetric photonic-crystal membrane placed on different transparent substrates., Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures

Non-Hermitian systems are known to possess unique singularities in the scattering spectra such as exceptional points, bound states in the continuum, Diabolic points, and anapole states, which are usually considered to be independent. Here, we demonstrate the fundamental relationships between non-Hermitian singularities and observe them experimentally in the scattering spectra. We reveal that exceptional points appear in the anapole regime, and diabolic points are associated with superscattering. We confirm our findings with microwave experiments by measuring the scattering spectra of subwavelength Mie-resonant ceramic rings. Our study underpins the generic behavior of non-Hermitian singularities in the scattering spectra of subwavelength resonators, uncovering their novel applications in non-Hermitian nonlinear optics and topological photonics., Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are exotic optical topological singularities that defy the typical radiation within the continuum of radiative modes and carry topological polarization vortices in momentum space. Enabling ultrahigh quality factors, BICs have been applied in realizing lasing and Bose-Einstein condensation via micro-/nano- photonic structures, and their momentum-space vortex topologies have been exploited in passive systems, revealing novel spin-orbit photonic effects. However, as representative topological properties, the spin-orbit-related phenemona of BICs in active systems have not yet been explored. Here, we demonstrate the inherent spin-orbit locking in topological BIC lasing. Utilizing photonic crystal (PhC) slabs with square (C4v) and triangular (C6v) lattices, we achieve distinct spin-orbit locking combinations in topological BIC lasing of +1 and -2 topological charges. These BIC lasing profiles manifest as vortex and high-order anti-vortex polarization configurations, directly tied to the topological properties of BICs. Our experimental results directly reveal the spin-orbit locking phenomena through momentum-space spin-dependent self-interference patterns and real-space spin separations of the lasing emissions. This study not only highlights the inherent spin-orbit-locking behaviours of topological BIC lasing but also opens new possibilities for dynamically switchable orbital angular momentum (OAM) lasing by controlling photonic spin, presenting significant potential for advancements in topological photonic source applications.

Vortex lasers have attracted substantial attention in recent years owing to their wide array of applications such as micromanipulation, optical multiplexing, and quantum cryptography. In this work, we propose and demonstrate chiral emission of vortex microlaser leveraging the collective modes from omnidirectionally hybridizing the guided mode resonances (GMRs) within photonic crystal (PhC) slabs. Specifically, we encircle a central uniform PhC with a heterogeneous PhC that features a circular lateral boundary. Consequently, the bulk GMRs hybridize into a series of collective modes due to boundary scatterings, resulting in a vortex pattern in real space with a spiral phase front in its radiation. Benefiting from the long lifetime of GMRs as quasi-bound state in the continuum and using asymmetric pumping to lift the chiral symmetry, we demonstrate stable single-mode lasing oscillation with a low optical pumping threshold of $18~\mathrm{kW/cm^2}$ at room temperature. We identify the real-space vortex through polarization-resolved imaging and self-interference patterns, showing a vivid example of applying collective modes to realize compact and energy-efficient vortex microlasers.

We reveal that chiral response can be achieved in resonant metasurfaces with a monoclinic lattice symmetry (the so-called Bravais oblique lattices) where the mirror symmetry is broken by the lattice asymmetry and by a substrate, while each individual meta-atom remains fully achiral. We describe the underlying mechanism by introducing the mode chirality parameter as a quantitative measure of the lattice chiral eigenmodes. We confirm experimentally selective linear and nonlinear chiral interaction of resonant silicon metasurfaces with circularly polarized light., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

Nonlinear chiral photonics explores nonlinear response of chiral structures, and it offers a pathway to novel optical functionalities not accessible through linear or achiral systems. Here we present the first application of nanostructured van der Waals materials to nonlinear chiral photonics. We demonstrate the three orders of magnitude enhancement of the third-harmonic generation from hBN metasurfaces driven by quasi-bound states in the continuum and accompanied by strong nonlinear circular dichroism at the resonances. This novel platform for chiral metaphotonics can be employed for achieving large circular dichroism combined with high-efficiency harmonic generation in a broad frequency range.

We suggest and develop a novel approach for describing topological properties of a periodic system purely from the transfer matrix associated to a unit cell. This approach is employed to obtain a simple pictorial proof of the Zak phase bulk-edge correspondence for any one dimensional system. We apply the transfer matrix method to study some generalisations of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model, such as the tetramer SSH4 model and a dimerised one-dimensional photonic crystal., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures

We study high quality-factor (high Q) resonances supported by periodic arrays of Mie resonators from the perspectives of both Bloch wave theory and multiple scattering theory. We reveal that, unlike a common belief, the bound states in the continuum (BICs) derived by the Bloch-wave theory do not directly determine the resonance with the highest Q value in large but finite arrays. Higher Q factors appear to be associated with collective resonances formed by nominally guided modes below the light line associated with strong effect of both electric and magnetic multipoles. Our findings offer valuable insights into accessing the modes with higher Q resonances via bonding modes within finite metastructures. Our results underpin the pivotal significance of magnetic and electric multipoles in the design of resonant metadevices and nonlocal flat-band optics. Moreover, our demonstrations reveal that coupled arrays of high-Q microcavities do not inherently result in a stronger light-matter interaction when compared to coupled low-Q nanoresonators. This result emphasizes the critical importance of the study of multiple light-scattering effects in cavity-based systems., Comment: 13 pages; 5 figures; An unified picture of BICs

Generation of even-order optical harmonics requires noncentrosymmetric structures being conventionally observed in crystals lacking the center of inversion. In centrosymmetric systems, even-order harmonics may arise, e.g., at surfaces but such effects are usually very weak. Here we observe optical harmonics up to 4-th order generated under the normal incidence from centrosymmetric dielectric metasurfaces empowered by resonances. We design silicon metasurfaces supporting optical quasibound states in the continuum and guided-mode resonances, and demonstrate the enhancement of second-harmonic signals by over three orders of magnitude compared to nonresonant thin films. Under the optimal conditions, the brightness of the second harmonic approaches that of the third harmonic, and the 4th-order harmonic becomes detectable.

Optical Skyrmions, as an emergent cutting-edge topic in optics and photonics, extend the concept of non-singular topological defects to topological photonics, providing extra degrees of freedom for light-matter interaction manipulations, optical metrologies, optical communications, etc..

Optical tweezers revolutionized the manipulation of nanoscale objects. Typically, tunable manipulations of optical tweezers rely on adjusting either the trapping laser beams or the optical environment surrounding the nanoparticles. We present a novel approach to achieve tunable and switchable trapping using nanoparticles made of a phase-change material (vanadium dioxide or VO$_2$). By varying the intensity of the trapping beam, we induce transitions of the VO$_2$ between monoclinic and rutile phases. Depending on the nanoparticles' sizes, they exhibit one of three behaviours: small nanoparticles (in our settings, radius $<0.12$ wavelength $\lambda$) remain always attracted by the laser beam in both material phases, large nanoparticles ($>0.22 \lambda$) remain always repelled. However, within the size range of $0.12$-$0.22 \lambda$, the phase transition of the VO$_2$ switches optical forces between attractive and repulsive, thereby pulling/pushing them towards/away from the beam centre. The effect is reversible, allowing the same particle to be attracted and repelled repeatedly. The phenomenon is governed by Mie resonances supported by the nanoparticle and their alterations during the phase transition of the VO$_2$. This work provides an alternative solution for dynamic optical tweezers and paves a way to new possibilities, including optical sorting, light-driven optomechanics and single-molecule biophysics., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures

Quantum metaphotonics has emerged as a cutting-edge subfield of meta-optics employing subwavelength resonators and their planar structures such as metasurfaces to generate, manipulate, and detect quantum states of light. It holds a great potential for the miniaturization of current bulky quantum optical elements by developing a design of on-chip quantum systems for various applications of quantum technologies. Over the past few years, this field has witnessed a surge of intriguing theoretical ideas, groundbreaking experiments, and novel application proposals. This perspective paper aims to summarize the most recent advancements and also provide a perspective on the further progress in this rapidly developing field of research.

Dynamic control of circular dichroism in photonic structures is critically important for compact spectrometers, stereoscopic displays, and information processing exploiting multiple degrees of freedom. Metasurfaces can help miniaturize chiral devices but only produce static and limited chiral responses. While external stimuli are able to tune resonances, their modulations are often weak, and reversing continuously the sign of circular dichroism is extremely challenging. Here, we demonstrate dynamically tunable chiral response of resonant metasurfaces supporting chiral bound states in the continuum combining them with phase-change materials. Phase transition between amorphous and crystalline phases allows to control chiral response and vary chirality rapidly from -0.947 to +0.958 backward and forward via chirality continuum. Our demonstrations underpin the rapid development of chiral photonics and its applications., Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are localized modes residing in the radiation continuum. They were first predicted for single-particle states, and became a general feature of many wave systems. In many-body quantum physics, it is still unclear what would be a close analog of BICs, and whether interparticle interaction may induce BICs. Here, we predict a novel type of multiparticle states in the interaction-modulated Bose-Hubbard model that can be associated with the BIC concept. Under periodic boundary conditions, a so-called quasi-BIC appears as a bounded pair residing in a standing wave formed by the third particle. Under open boundary conditions, such a hybrid state becomes an eigenstate of the system. We demonstrate that the Thouless pumping of the quasi-BICs can be realized by modulating the on-site interactions in space and time. Surprisingly, while the center-of-mass of the quasi-BIC is shifted by a unit cell in one cycle, the bounded pair moves into the opposite direction with the standing wave., Comment: Suggestions and Comments are welcome

Advancing resonant nanophotonics requires novel building blocks. Recently, cavities in high-index dielectrics have been shown to resonantly confine light inside a lower-index region. These so-called Mie voids represent a counterpart to solid high-index dielectric Mie resonators, offering novel functionality such as resonant behavior in the ultraviolet spectral region. However, the well-known and highly useful Babinet's principle, which relates the scattering of solid and inverse structures, is not strictly applicable for this dielectric case as it is only valid for infinitesimally thin perfect electric conductors. Here, we show that Babinet's principle can be generalized to dielectric systems within certain boundaries, which we refer to as the quasi-Babinet principle and demonstrate for spherical and more generically shaped Mie resonators. Limitations arise due to geometry-dependent terms as well as material frequency dispersion and losses. Thus, our work not only offers deeper physical insight into the working mechanism of these systems but also establishes simple design rules for constructing dielectric resonators with complex functionalities from their complementary counterparts., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

The physics of bound states in the continuum (BICs) allows to design and demonstrate optical resonant structures with large values of the quality factor ($Q$-factor) by employing dielectric structures with low losses. However, BIC is a general wave phenomenon that should be observed in many systems, including the metal-dielectric structures supporting plasmons where the resonances are hindered by losses. Here we develop a comprehensive strategy to achieve high-$Q$ resonances in plasmonic metasurfaces by effectively tailoring the resonant modes from local and nonlocal regimes.

We generalize the concept of optical scattering matrix ($S$-matrix) to characterize harmonic generation and frequency mixing in planar metasurfaces in the limit of undepleted pump approximation. We show that the symmetry properties of such nonlinear $S$-matrix are determined by the microscopic and macroscopic symmetries of the metasurface. We demonstrate that for description of degenerate frequency mixing processes such as optical harmonic generation, the multidimensional $S$-matrix can be replaced with a reduced two-dimensional $S$-matrix. We show that for metasurfaces possessing specific point group symmetries, the selection rules determining the transformation of the reduced nonlinear $S$-matrix are simplified substantially and can be expressed in a compact form. We apply the developed approach to analyse chiral harmonic generation in nonlinear metasurfaces with various symmetries including rotational, in-plane mirror, and out-of-plane mirror symmetries. For each of those symmetries, we confirm the results of the developed analysis by full-wave numerical calculations. We believe our results provide a new paradigm for engineering nonlinear optical properties of metasurfaces which may find applications in active and nonlinear optics, biosensing, and quantum information processing., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, 46 references

We review the physics and some applications of photonic structures designed for the realisation of strong $\textit{nonlinear chiroptical response}$. We pay much attention to the recent strategy of utilizing different types of $\textit{optical resonances}$ in metallic and dielectric subwavelength structures and metasurfaces, including surface plasmon resonances, Mie resonances, lattice guided modes, and bound states in the continuum. We summarize earlier results and discuss more recent developments for achieving large circular dichroism combined with the high efficiency of nonlinear harmonic generation., Comment: perspective, 35 pages, 5 figures

High-index dielectric subwavelength structures and metasurfaces are capable of enhancing light-matter interaction by orders of magnitude via geometry-dependent optical resonances. This enhancement, however, comes with a fundamental limitation of a narrow spectral range of operation in the vicinity of one or few resonant frequencies. Here we tackle this limitation and introduce an innovative and practical approach to achieve spectrally tunable enhancement of light-matter interaction with resonant metasurfaces. We design and fabricate {\it resonance-gradient metasurfaces} with varying geometrical parameters that translate into resonant frequencies dependence on one of the coordinates of the metasurface. The metasurfaces are composed of bone-like nanoresonators which are made of germanium, and they support high-$Q$ optical resonances in the mid-IR spectral range. We apply this general concept to observe the resonant enhancement of the $3^{\text{rd}}$ and $5^{\text{th}}$ harmonics generated from the gradient metasurfaces being used in conjunction with a tunable excitation laser to provide a wide spectral coverage of resonantly-enhanced tunable generation of multiple optical harmonics., Comment: Main text: 17 pages and 5 figures. Supplementary Information: 5 pages and 2 figures. Conference presentation link: https://doi.org/10.1364/CLEO_FS.2023.FTh4D.7

We introduce the concept of photonic flatband resonances for the example of an array of high index dielectric particles. We employ the multiple Mie scattering theory and reveal that both short range and long range interactions between the resonators are crucial for the emerging collective resonances and their associated photonic flatbands. By examining both nearfield and far field characteristics, we uncover how the flatbands emerge due to fine tuning of resonators radiation fields, and predict that hybridization of a flatband resonance with an electric hotspot can lead to giant values of the Purcell factor for the electric dipolar emitters., Comment: a letter with 1 schematic, 4 figures

Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles emerged recently as an attractive material platform underpinning a broad range of innovative applications such as optical cryptography, luminescent probes, and lasing. However, the intricate 4f-associated electronic transition in upconversion nanoparticles leads only to a weak photoluminescence intensity and unpolarized emission, hindering many applications that demand ultrabright and polarized light sources. Here, we uncover a new strategy for achieving ultrabright and dual-band polarized upconversion photoluminescence. We employ resonant dielectric metasurfaces supporting high-quality resonant modes at dual upconversion bands enabling two-order-of-magnitude amplification of upconversion emissions. We demonstrate that dual-band resonances can be selectively switched on polarization, endowing cross-polarization controlled upconversion luminescence with ultra-high degrees of polarization, reaching approximately 0.86 and 0.91 at dual emission wavelengths of 540 nm and 660 nm, respectively. Our strategy offers an effective approach for enhancing photon upconversion processes paving the way toward efficient low-threshold polarization upconversion lasers.

Chiral light sources realized in ultracompact device platforms are highly desirable for various applications. Among active media employed for thin-film emission devices, lead-halide perovskites have been extensively studied for photoluminescence due to their exceptional properties. However, up to date, there have been no demonstrations of chiral electroluminescence with a substantial degree of circular polarization (DCP), being critical for the development of practical devices. Here, we propose a new concept of chiral light sources based on a thin-film perovskite metacavity and experimentally demonstrate chiral electroluminescence with DCP approaching 0.38. We design a metacavity created by a metal and a dielectric metasurface supporting photonic eigenstates with close-to-maximum chiral response. Chiral cavity modes facilitate asymmetric electroluminescence of pairs of left and right circularly polarized waves propagating in the opposite oblique directions. The proposed ultracompact light sources are especially advantageous for many applications requiring chiral light beams of both helicities., Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures

Topological phases play a crucial role in the fundamental physics of light-matter interaction and emerging applications of quantum technologies. However, the topological band theory of waveguide QED systems is known to break down, because the energy bands become disconnected. Here, we introduce a concept of the inverse energy band and explore analytically topological scattering in a waveguide with an array of quantum emitters. We uncover a rich structure of topological phase transitions, symmetric scale-free localization, completely flat bands, and the corresponding dark Wannier states. Although bulk-edge correspondence is partially broken because of radiative decay, we prove analytically that the scale-free localized states are distributed in a single inverse energy band in the topological phase and in two inverse bands in the trivial phase. Surprisingly, the winding number of the scattering textures depends on both the topological phase of inverse subradiant band and the odevity of the cell number. Our work uncovers the field of the topological inverse bands, and it brings a novel vision to topological phases in light-matter interactions., Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

We study numerically the dynamics of acetanilide (ACN) molecules placed on a flat surface of a multilayer hexagonal boron nitride structure. We demonstrate that the ACN molecules, being achiral in three dimensions, become chiral after being placed on the substrate. Homochirality of the ACN molecules leads to stable secondary structures stabilized by hydrogen bonds between peptide groups of the molecules. Numerical simulations of systems of such molecules reveal that the structure of the resulting hydrogen-bond chains depends on the isomeric composition of the molecules. If all molecules are homochiral (i.e. only one isomer is present), they form secondary structures (chains of hydrogen bonds in the shapes of arcs, circles, and spirals). If the molecules at the substrate form a racemic mixture, then no regular secondary structures appear, and only curvilinear chains of hydrogen bonds of random shapes can emerge. A hydrogen-bond chain can form a straight zigzag only if it has an alternation of isomers. Such chains can create two-dimensional (2D) regular lattices, or 2D crystals. The melting scenarios of such 2D crystals depend on density of its coverage of the substrate. At 25% coverage, melting occurs continuously in a certain temperature interval. For a complete coverage, melting occurs at 415-470 K due to a shift of 11% of all molecules into the second layer of the substrate., Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures

Multiphoton processes of absorption photoluminescence have enabled a wide range of applications including three-dimensional microfabrication, data storage, and biological imaging. While the applications of two-photon and three-photon absorption and luminescence have matured considerably, higher-order photoluminescence processes remain more challenging to study due to their lower efficiency, particularly in subwavelength systems. Here we report the observation of it five-photon luminescence from a single subwavelength nanoantenna at room temperature enabled by the Mie resonances. We excite an AlGaAs resonator at around 3.6 um and observe photoluminescence at around 740 nm. We show that the interplay of the Mie multipolar modes at the subwavelength scale can enhance the efficiency of the five-photon luminescence by at least four orders of magnitude, being limited only by sensitivity of our detector. Our work paves the way towards applications of higher-order multiphoton processes at the subwavelength scales enabled by the physics of Mie resonances., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures

Broken symmetries lie at the heart of nontrivial physical phenomena. Breaking the in-plane geometrical symmetry of optical systems allows to access a set of electromagnetic states termed symmetry-protected quasi-bound states in the continuum (qBICs). Here we demonstrate, theoretically, numerically and experimentally, that such optical states can also be accessed in metasurfaces by breaking the in-plane symmetry in the permittivity of the comprising materials, showing a remarkable equivalence to their geometrically-asymmetric counterparts. However, while the physical size of atoms imposes a limit on the lowest achievable geometrical asymmetry, weak permittivity modulations due to carrier doping and electro-optical Pockels and Kerr effects, usually considered insignificant, open up the possibility of infinitesimal permittivity asymmetries for on-demand, and dynamically tuneable optical resonances of extremely high quality factors. We probe the excitation of permittivity-asymmetric qBICs (${\varepsilon}$-qBICs) using a prototype Si/TiO$_{2}$ metasurface, in which the asymmetry in the unit cell is provided by the refractive index contrast of the dissimilar materials, surpassing any unwanted asymmetries from nanofabrication defects or angular deviations of light from normal incidence. ${\varepsilon}$-qBICs can also be excited in 1D gratings, where quality-factor enhancement and tailored interference phenomena via the interplay of geometrical and permittivity asymmetries are numerically demonstrated. The emergence of ${\varepsilon}$-qBICs in systems with broken symmetries in their permittivity may enable to test time-energy uncertainties in quantum mechanics, and lead to a whole new class of low-footprint optical and optoelectronic devices, from arbitrarily narrow filters and topological sources, biosensing and ultrastrong light-matter interaction platforms, to tuneable optical switches., Comment: Manuscript and Supplementary Information, 27 pages, 4 Figures manuscript + 4 Supplementary Figures

Optical nonreciprocity is manifested as a difference in the transmission of light for the opposite directions of excitation. Nonreciprocal optics is traditionally realized with relatively bulky components such as optical isolators based on the Faraday rotation, hindering the miniaturization and integration of optical systems. Here we demonstrate free-space nonreciprocal transmission through a metasurface comprised of a two-dimensional array of nanoresonators made of silicon hybridized with vanadium dioxide (VO2). This effect arises from the magneto-electric coupling between Mie modes supported by the resonator. Nonreciprocal response of the nanoresonators occurs without the need for external bias; instead, reciprocity is broken by the incident light triggering the VO2 phase transition for only one direction of incidence. Nonreciprocal transmission is broadband covering over 100 nm in the telecommunication range in the vicinity of {\lambda}=1.5 um. Each nanoresonator unit cell occupies only about 0.1 {\lambda}^3 in volume, with the metasurface thickness measuring about half-a-micron. Our self-biased nanoresonators exhibit nonreciprocity down to very low levels of intensity on the order of 150 W/cm^2 or a uW per nanoresonator. We estimate picosecond-scale transmission fall times and sub-microsecond scale transmission rise. Our demonstration brings low-power, broadband and bias-free optical nonreciprocity to the nanoscale.

The realization of lossless metasurfaces with true chirality crucially requires the fabrication of three-dimensional structures, constraining their feasibility for experiments and hampering practical implementations. Even though the three-dimensional assembly of metallic nanostructures has been demonstrated previously, the resulting plasmonic resonances suffer from high intrinsic and radiative losses. The concept of photonic bound states in the continuum (BICs) is instrumental for tailoring radiative losses in diverse geometries, especially when implemented using lossless dielectrics, but applications have so far been limited to planar and intrinsically achiral structures. Here, we introduce a novel nanofabrication approach to unlock the height of generally flat all-dielectric metasurfaces as an accessible parameter for efficient resonance and functionality control. In particular, we realize out-of-plane symmetry breaking in quasi-BIC metasurfaces and leverage this design degree of freedom to demonstrate, for the first time, an optical all-dielectric quasi-BIC metasurface with maximum intrinsic chirality that responds selectively to light of a particular circular polarization depending on the structural handedness. Our experimental results not only open a new paradigm for all-dielectric BICs and chiral nanophotonics but also promise advances in the realization of efficient generation of optical angular momentum, holographic metasurfaces, and parity-time symmetry-broken optical systems., Comment: Main text and supporting information, 35 pages, 3 Figures manuscript + 13 Supporting Figures

Optically-induced mechanical torque leading to the rotation of small objects requires the presence of absorption or breaking cylindrical symmetry of a scatterer. A spherical non-absorbing particle cannot rotate due to the conservation of the angular momentum of light upon scattering. Here, we suggest a novel physical mechanism for the angular momentum transfer to non-absorbing particles via nonlinear light scattering. The breaking of symmetry occurs at the microscopic level manifested in nonlinear negative optical torque due to the excitation of resonant states at the harmonic frequency with higher projection of angular momentum. The proposed physical mechanism can be verified with resonant dielectric nanostructures, and we suggest some specific realizations., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

Photons with spin angular momentum possess intrinsic chirality which underpins many phenomena including nonlinear optics1, quantum optics2, topological photonics3 and chiroptics4. Intrinsic chirality is weak in natural materials, and recent theoretical proposals5-7 aimed to enlarge circular dichroism by resonant metasurfaces supporting bound states in the continuum that enhance substantially chiral light-matter interaction. Those insightful works resort to three-dimensional sophisticated geometries, which are too challenging to be realized for optical frequencies8. Therefore, most of the experimental attempts9-11 showing strong circular dichroism rely on false/extrinsic chirality by employing either oblique incidence9, 10 or structural anisotropy11. Here, we report on the experimental realization of true/intrinsic chiral response with resonant metasurfaces where the engineered slant geometry breaks both in-plane and out-of-plane symmetries. Our result marks the first observation of intrinsic chiral bound states in the continuum with near-unity chiral dichroism of 0.93 and record-high quality factor exceeding 2663 for visible frequencies. Our chiral metasurfaces promise a plethora of applications in chiral light sources and detectors, chiral sensing, valleytronics and asymmetric photocatalysis.

Plasmon resonances play a pivotal role in enhancing light-matter interactions in nanophotonics, but their low-quality factors have hindered applications demanding high spectral selectivity. Even though symmetry-protected bound states in the continuum with high-quality factors have been realized in dielectric metasurfaces, impinging light is not efficiently coupled to the resonant metasurfaces and is lost in the form of reflection due to low intrinsic losses. Here, we demonstrate a novel design and 3D laser nanoprinting of plasmonic nanofin metasurfaces, which support symmetry-protected bound states in the continuum up to 4th order. By breaking the nanofins out-of-plane symmetry in parameter space, we achieve high-quality factor (up to 180) modes under normal incidence. We reveal that the out-of-plane symmetry breaking can be fine-tuned by the triangle angle of the 3D nanofin meta-atoms, opening a pathway to precisely control the ratio of radiative to intrinsic losses. This enables access to the under-, critical-, and over-coupled regimes, which we exploit for pixelated molecular sensing. Depending on the coupling regime we observe negative, no, or positive modulation induced by the analyte, unveiling the undeniable importance of tailoring light-matter interaction. Our demonstration provides a novel metasurface platform for enhanced light-matter interaction with a wide range of applications in optical sensing, energy conversion, nonlinear photonics, surface-enhanced spectroscopy, and quantum optics., Comment: 33 pages, 4 figures, 9 supplementary figures

Higher-order optical harmonics entered the realm of nanostructured solids being observed recently in optical gratings and metasurfaces with a subwavelength thickness. Structuring materials at the subwavelength scale allows for resonant enhancing of the efficiency of nonlinear processes and reducing the size of high-harmonic sources. Here we report the observation of up to a seventh harmonic generated from a single subwavelength resonator made of AlGaAs material. This process is enabled by careful engineering of the resonator geometry for supporting optical modes associated with a quasi-bound state in the continuum in the mid-infrared spectral range at around {\lambda}=3.7 {\mu}m pump wavelength. The resonator volume measures ~ 0.1 {\lambda}^3. The resonant modes are excited with an azimuthally polarized tightly focused beam. We evaluate the contributions of perturbative and non-perturbative nonlinearities to the harmonic generation process. Our work proves the possibility to miniaturize solid-state sources of high harmonics to the subwavelength volumes., Comment: 3 figures, 12 pages, to be published

Bound states in the continuum provide a remarkable example of how a simple problem solved about a century ago in quantum mechanics can drive the research on a whole spectrum of resonant phenomena in wave physics. Due to their huge radiative lifetime, bound states in the continuum have found multiple applications in various areas of physics devoted to wave processes, including hydrodynamics, atomic physics, and acoustics. In this review paper, we present a comprehensive description of bound states in the continuum and related effects, focusing mainly on photonic dielectric structures. We review the history of this area, basic physical mechanisms in the formation of bound states in the continuum, and specific examples of structures supporting such states. We also discuss their possible applications in optics, photonics, and radiophysics., Comment: 80 pages, 21 figures

All-dielectric nanophotonics underpinned by the physics of bound states in the continuum (BICs) have demonstrated breakthrough applications in nanoscale light manipulation, frequency conversion and optical sensing. Leading BIC implementations range from isolated nanoantennas with localized electromagnetic fields to symmetry-protected metasurfaces with controllable resonance quality (Q) factors. However, they either require structured light illumination with complex beam-shaping optics or large, fabrication-intense arrays of polarization-sensitive unit cells, hindering tailored nanophotonic applications and on-chip integration. Here, we introduce radial quasi bound states in the continuum (radial BICs) as a new class of radially distributed electromagnetic modes controlled by structural asymmetry in a ring of dielectric rod pair resonators. The radial BIC platform provides polarization-invariant and tunable high-Q resonances with strongly enhanced near fields in an ultracompact footprint as low as 2 $\mu$m$^2$. We demonstrate radial BIC realizations in the visible for sensitive biomolecular detection and enhanced second-harmonic generation from monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides, opening new perspectives for compact, spectrally selective, and polarization-invariant metadevices for multi-functional light-matter coupling, multiplexed sensing, and high-density on-chip photonics., Comment: Accepted version and supporting information, 4 Figures manuscript + 14 Supporting Figures

Manipulating light on the nanoscale has become a central challenge in metadevices, resonant surfaces, nanoscale optical sensors, and many more, and it is largely based on resonant light confinement in dispersive and lossy metals and dielectrics. Here, we experimentally implement a novel strategy for dielectric nanophotonics: Resonant subwavelength confinement of light in air. We demonstrate that voids created in high-index dielectric host materials support localized resonant modes with exceptional optical properties. Due to the confinement in air, the modes do not suffer from the loss and dispersion of the dielectric host medium. We experimentally realize these resonant Mie voids by focused ion beam milling into bulk silicon wafers and experimentally demonstrate resonant light confinement down to the UV spectral range at 265 nm (4.68 eV). Furthermore, we utilize the bright, intense, and naturalistic colours for nanoscale colour printing. The combination of resonant dielectric Mie voids with dielectric nanoparticles will more than double the parameter space for the future design of metasurfaces and other micro- and nanoscale optical elements and push their operation into the blue and UV spectral range. In particular, this extension will enable novel antenna and structure designs which benefit from the full access to the modal field inside the void as well as the nearly free choice of the high-index material.

We consider the scattering of electromagnetic waves by non-spherical dielectric resonators and reveal that it can be linked to the exceptional points underpinned by the physics of non-Hermitian systems. We demonstrate how symmetry breaking in the shape of an isolated dielectric nanoparticle can be associated with the existence of an exceptional point in the eigenvalue spectrum and formulate the general conditions for the strong coupling of resonances, illustrating them for the example of the electric dipole and magnetic dipole modes supported by a silicon nanoparticle. We argue that any two modes of a dielectric nanoparticle can lead to an exceptional point provided their resonant frequencies cross as a function of a tuning parameter, such as, e.g. its aspect ratio, and their field distributions should have opposite signs after a reflection in the transverse plane of the structure. The coupled modes radiate as a mixture of electric and magnetic dipoles, which result in a strong magnetoelectric response, being easily controlled by the symmetry breaking perturbation. We also investigate the influence of a dielectric substrate, demonstrating how the latter provides an additional mechanism to tune the position of exceptional points in the parameter space. Finally, we discuss applications of magnetoelectric exceptional points for refractive index sensing.

Optical tweezers employing forces produced by light underpin important manipulation tools in many areas of applied and biological physics. Conventional optical tweezers are based on refractive optics, and they require excessive auxiliary optical elements to reshape both amplitude and phase, as well as wavevector and angular momentum of light, and thus impose limitations to the overall cost and integration of optical systems. Metamaterials provide both electric and optically induced magnetic response in subwavelength optical structures, and they are highly beneficial to achieve unprecedented control of light required for many applications, also opening new opportunities for optical manipulation. Here, we review the recent advances in the field of optical tweezers employing the physics and concepts of metamaterials (the so-called meta-tweezers) and demonstrate that metamaterial structures could not only advance classical operations with particles, such as trapping, transporting, and sorting, but they uncover exotic optical forces such as pulling and lateral forces. Remarkably, apart from manipulation of particles, metastructures can be powered dynamically by light to realize ingenious meta-robots. We provide an outlook for future opportunities in this area ranging from enhanced particle manipulation to meta-robot actuation., Comment: 49 pages, 5 figures

We study the resonant enhancement of linear and nonlinear chiroptical effects in asymmetric silicon metasurfaces supporting multipolar Mie resonances and quasi-bound states in the continuum (quasi-BICs). We demonstrate theoretically and observe in experiment the pronounced linear circular dichroism at the quasi-BIC resonances. We further find that both local field enhancement and third-harmonic signal are large for Mie resonances and some quasi-BIC modes. We explain the selectivity of the nonlinear enhancement by employing the concept of critical coupling being more favorable for the modes with moderately large radiative quality factors ($Q$ factors). We demonstrate experimentally strong nonlinear chiroptical response associated with high efficiency of the third-harmonic generation and large nonlinear circular dichroism varying from $+0.918\pm0.049$ to $-0.771\pm0.004$ for the samples with different asymmetries. We believe our results suggest a general strategy for engineering nonlinear chiroptical response in dielectric resonant metasurfaces., Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures

The study of thermal transport in low-dimensional materials has attracted a lot of attention recently after discovery of high thermal conductivity of graphene. Here we study numerically phonon transport in low-dimensional carbon structures being interested in the hydrodynamic regime revealed through the observation of second sound. We demonstrate that correct numerical modeling of such two-dimensional systems requires semi-classical molecular dynamics simulations of temperature waves that take into account quantum statistics of thermalized phonons. We reveal that second sound can be attributed to the maximum group velocity of bending optical oscillations of carbon structures, and the hydrodynamic effects disappear for $T>200$K, being replaced by diffusive dynamics of thermal waves. Our numerical results suggest that the velocity of second sound in such low-dimensional structures is about 6 km/s, and the hydrodynamic effects are manifested stronger in carbon nanotubes rather than in carbon nanoribbons., Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures