Terahertz high-Q quasi-bound states in the continuum in laser-fabricated metallic double-slit arrays

Abstract

A laser-fabricated metallic resonator based on a double-slit array (DSA) is numerically and experimentally demonstrated at terahertz frequencies. Such free-standing resonators achieve a sharp resonance with high quality (Q) factor, arising from a distortion of symmetry-protected bound states in the continuum (BIC). By breaking the structural symmetry of DSAs, the BIC with infinite Q-factor can be transformed into quasi-BICs, and the Q-factors decrease gradually as the asymmetry parameter increases. We analyzed the influence of the imperfection in experimental samples such as the round edge and the trapezoid shape on the transmission properties of DSAs. Different from the DSAs composed of ideal perfect electrical conductors, copper DSAs show lower Q-factor because of the Ohmic loss. The effect of metal thickness on the quasi-BICs for DSAs is also investigated. Results exhibit that thinner resonators can achieve sharper quasi-BICs. These findings suggest that such metallic resonators with high Q-factors have great potential for practical applications in electromagnetic wave filtering and biomolecular sensing.