In the framework of the temporal coupled mode theory we consider bound states embedded in the continuum (BSC) of photonic crystal waveguide as a capacity for light storage. A symmetry protected BSC occurs in two off-channel microresonators positioned symmetrically relative to the waveguide. We demonstrate that the symmetry protected BSC captures a fraction of a light pulse due to the Kerr effect as the pulse passes by the microresonators. However the amount of captured light is found to be strongly sensitive to the parameters of the gaussian light pulse such as basic frequency, duration and intensity. In contrast to the above case the BSC resulted from a full destructive interference of two eigenmodes of a single microresonator accumulates a fixed amount of light dependent on the material parameters of the microresonator but independent of the light pulse. The BSCs in the Fabry-Perot resonator show similar effects. We also show that the accumulated light can be released by a secondary pulse. These phenomena pave a way for all-optical storage and release of light.
In the framework of the temporal coupled mode theory we consider bound states embedded in the continuum (BSC) of photonic crystal waveguide as a capacity for light storage. A symmetry protected BSC occurs in two off-channel microresonators positioned symmetrically relative to the waveguide. We demonstrate that the symmetry protected BSC captures a fraction of a light pulse due to the Kerr effect as the pulse passes by the microresonators. However the amount of captured light is found to be strongly sensitive to the parameters of the gaussian light pulse such as basic frequency, duration and intensity. In contrast to the above case the BSC resulted from a full destructive interference of two eigenmodes of a single microresonator accumulates a fixed amount of light dependent on the material parameters of the microresonator but independent of the light pulse. The BSCs in the Fabry-Perot resonator show similar effects. We also show that the accumulated light can be released by a secondary pulse. These phenomena pave a way for all-optical storage and release of light.
Bound states in the continuum (BICs) can confine photonic excitations in open systems without conventional cavities or band gaps, making them promising candidates for long-lived quantum storage and single-photon control. Their use as quantum resources is limited, however, by two basic difficulties: they are dark to incident photons, and they are not protected by a spectral gap from the surrounding continuum. We address these difficulties in a giant atom coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide by separating radiative access from BIC-preserving manipulation. Atomic-frequency modulation dynamically breaks and restores the destructive-interference condition, allowing a mode-matched single photon to be captured into, and released from, the BIC. Symmetric coupling modulation, in contrast, preserves the BIC condition throughout the evolution and continuously changes the atomic and photonic weights of the stored state. This BIC-preserving deformation realizes a gapless adiabatic control problem: for a regular embedded continuum, the intrinsic leakage probability is proportional to the ramp rate rather than quadratically suppressed as in gapped systems. The linear scaling originates from near-resonant scattering states at the BIC energy and is independent of microscopic dispersion except through the prefactor. These results establish a coherent capture-control-release protocol for a populated BIC and identify the fundamental error law for manipulating quantum states that remain embedded in a gapless environment.
Bound states in the continuum (BICs) can confine photonic excitations in open systems without conventional cavities or band gaps, making them natural candidates for long-lived quantum storage and single-photon control. Their use is limited, however, by two obstacles: they are dark to incident photons, and they lack spectral-gap protection from the surrounding continuum. We overcome both limitations in a giant atom coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide using two temporal control knobs. Atomic-frequency modulation breaks and restores the destructive-interference condition, enabling deterministic capture and release of mode-matched single photons. Coupling modulation instead preserves the BIC condition while tuning the atomic and photonic weights of the stored state. A key result is that this embedded state can nevertheless be controlled adiabatically despite the absence of a spectral gap, with an intrinsic leakage probability linear in the ramp rate. By separating radiative access from BIC-preserving deformation, the protocol turns a dark BIC into a single-photon memory whose fidelity is set by the intrinsic continuum-induced leakage law, providing a route to embedded-state control in open photonic platforms.
A quantum theory of light propagation in two optical channel waveguides tunneling coupled to a common continuum of modes (such as those of a slab waveguide) is presented, and classical and quantum interference effects are investigated. For classical light, the photonic system realizes an optical analog of coherent population trapping in the continuum encountered in atomic physics, where destructive interference between different light leakage channels leads to the appearance of a trapped state embedded in the continuum. For nonclassical light, two-photon interference effects are predicted, such as the tendency of photon pairs to bunch when decaying into the continuum.
We demonstrate a robust scheme for quantum information storage based on bound states in a two-dimensional coupled-cavity array. When a target cavity is tuned to resonance with the array, a bound state in the continuum (BIC) emerges, coexisting with two conventional bound states outside the band. The resulting dynamics reflects a delicate interplay between these bound states, which can be fully captured through exact analytical solutions. In the weak-coupling regime, the BIC dominates, enabling perfect and persistent information storage. At stronger coupling, all bound states contribute, leading to oscillatory behavior and reduced storage fidelity. These results, valid at both zero and finite reservoir temperatures and further supported by a single-particle framework, reveal distinctive non-Markovian features in continuous-variable systems and highlight the potential of photonic lattices for scalable all-optical decoherence-free quantum memory platforms.
We consider light scattering by dielectric gratings supporting optical bound states in the continuum. Due to the presence of instantaneous Kerr nonlinearity critical field enhancement in the spectral vicinity of the bound state triggers the effect of optical bistability. The onset of bistability is explained theoretically in the framework of the temporal coupled-mode theory. As the central result we cast the problem in the form of a single field-driven nonlinear oscillator. The theoretical results are verified in comparison with numerical simulations.
Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are counterintuitive localized states that lie within the continuum of extended states. While extensively realized and utilized in classical wave systems, it is still unclear what a close analog of BICs would be, and how to extract their experimental signature in quantum-optical settings -- where the wave field itself is quantized into bosonic excitations. Here, we present a paradigmatic quantum-optical model consisting of a driven multi-level Jaynes-Cummings (JC) system, featuring few quantum degrees of freedom yet capable of hosting a BIC. Using the concept of a Fock-state lattice (FSL), this model can be mapped to an extended structure comprising two semi-infinite inhomogeneous Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chains coupled to a common continuum. An appropriate quantum superposition of two topological zero modes from the separate chains forms a BIC that remains perfectly localized in the Fock-state dimension within the continuum spectrum, due to complete decoupling from the common continuum via destructive quantum interference. We further develop a method to extract the spectroscopic signature of the BIC -- a discrete peak embedded in a continuous background -- by Fourier-transforming the time-dependent dynamics of the system's chiral-symmetry operator. A highly feasible experimental proposal using a single trapped ion is provided. Our work bridges BIC physics with quantum optics, opening a pathway to harnessing such exotic states at the quantum limit.