Artificial anisotropy induced bound states in the continuum for integrated photonic waveguide

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) enable counterintuitive light confinement without radiation loss, providing a powerful foundation for integrated photonic waveguides. However, existing BIC waveguides are predominantly realized through geometry-dependent designs, where the BIC condition is restricted to narrowly defined structural parameters, limiting design flexibility and practical applicability. Artificial optical anisotropy is introduced as a new design paradigm for BIC waveguides. Implemented using subwavelength-grating (SWG) metamaterials, continuously tailorable anisotropy provides an independent degree of freedom for deterministically reshaping the radiative continuum, enabling flexible formation and systematic control of BIC waveguides over a broad design space. Anisotropy-engineered symmetry breaking further enables controllable asymmetric radiation and precisely tailored field leakage. This paradigm transforms BIC waveguides from geometry-constrained structures into an anisotropy-engineered platform, establishing a general framework for programmable radiation engineering and next-generation integrated photonic devices.