Integrated diffraction gratings on the Bloch surface wave platform supporting bound states in the continuum

We propose and theoretically and numerically investigate integrated diffraction gratings for the Bloch surface wave (BSW) platform, which have subwavelength or near-subwavelength period. We demonstrate that, in the oblique incidence geometry of a transverse-electric polarized BSW and with a properly chosen band gap configuration of the photonic crystal supporting the surface waves, the proposed structures operate in the scattering-free regime, when the energy of the incident BSW is divided between the reflected and transmitted BSWs with the same polarization corresponding to the propagating diffraction orders of the grating, and not scattered away from the propagation surface. In this regime, the studied integrated gratings support high-Q resonances and bound states in the continuum not only in the subwavelength case when only the specular (zeroth) diffraction orders propagate, but also in the case when non-evanescent zeroth and −1st diffraction orders satisfy the so-called Littrow mounting condition. The proposed integrated gratings on the BSW platform can be used as efficient narrowband spatial or spectral filters operating in reflection, or as BSW beam splitters or deflectors operating in transmission. The obtained results may find application in two-dimensional photonic circuits for steering the BSW propagation.