What is the process of simulation?

FDE

The Finite Difference Eigenmode (FDE ) is a numerical solution algorithm that discretizes the Maxwell equations and solves the constructed feature matrix. It is demonstrated below about the work process to run FDE using Max-Optics Studio and view the simulation results.

1.Create a new project

Click the New Blank Project button on the New & Recent page to create a new blank project.

2.Add Materials

refer to the 4 steps in the figure below: 1) Click the Material Library button in Material on the functional area;

2) Select “Si (Silicon) -Salik” of the material database in the material pop-up window;

3) Import the selected material into the project by clicking Export to Project;

4) The material will be visible in the left Objects Tree.

3.Add Structures

Take the rectangular waveguide as an example. Click the Structure button in the ribbon, then select Rectangle from the drop-down menu, add the structure and set the properties.

Process: Ribbon Menu-> Structure -> Rectangle -> Geometry -> Material

4.Add FDE

Click the Setup Solvers button in the Ribbon menu, select the FDE solver from the drop-down menu, and then set the properties according to the following table.

5.Run

Click on the Run button in the menu bar and then select Solver from the drop-down menu.

6.Analysis

After the calculation is completed, right-click the FDE Analysis in the object tree to select Add Analysis. In the pop-up FDE Analysis window, the user can select Modal Analysis and Frequency Analysis.

Clicking the Calculate Modes button, the simulation process bar will be displayed in the lower left corner of the interface.

Set the relevant parameters after clicking the Frequency Analysis (Frequency Analysis) tab to switch to the window of the frequency analysis, and then click the Frequency Analysis button to calculate the pattern characteristics of the waveguide at different frequencies.

7.Result View

After the calculation of modal analysis is completed, right-click the Modal Analysis in the result view tree, and click New 1D Plot to view the results of the modal analysis. In addition, users can also select the displayed image properties in the 2D drawing area.

The same operation to check the results of frequency analysi in the result view tree.

Note: Analyzing the mode properties at different wavelengths, you can directly change the wavelength being solved without needing to rerun the simulation. The operation is shown in the image below. Additionally, through the drawing options in the ribbon, you can view the calculation results of other components in the drawing area.

EME

The Eigenmode Expansion Method (EME) calculates the bidirectional transmission of interface modes in partitioned units to obtain the transfer matrix, which has significant advantages over FDTD in simulating length scanning photonic devices. Next we will show the work process to run EME with Max-Optics Studio.

1.Create a new project

Click the New Blank Project button on the New & Recent page to create a new blank project.

2.Add Materials

refer to the 4 steps in the figure below:

1. Click the Material Library button in Material on the functional area;

2. Select “Si (Silicon) -Palik” of the material database in the material pop-up window;

3. Import the selected material into the project by clicking Export to Project;

4. The material will be visible in the left Objects Tree.

3.Add Structures

Take the rectangular waveguide as an example. Click the Structure button in the ribbon, then select Rectangle from the drop-down menu, add the structure and set properties.

Process: Ribbon Menu-> Structure -> Rectangle -> Geometry -> Material

4.Add EME

Click the Setup Solvers button in the ribbon, select the EME solver from the drop-down menu, and then set the properties according to the following table.

EME Setup:

Mesh Settings:

Boundary Conditions:

Advanced:

5.Add EME Ports

In the Objects Tree, by double-clicking EME port or chooseing it and right-clicking Edit in the drop-down list, we can start setting the parameters of EME Port . Otherwise, to create a new port in the project, we can click the Ports--EME Port in the menu bar.

6.Add EME Monitors

Click the Monitors button on the ribbon to select EME Profile Monitor from the drop-down menu. And set the properties according to the following table.

7.Run

Click the Run button in the menu bar and then select Solver from the drop-down menu.

The following figure shows version information, simulation progress information and termination simulation options with the running EME simulation.

8.Run EME Analysis

After the EME Solver calculation running completes, right-click the EME Analysis in the object tree window to select Add Analysis. Users can run EME Propagate, Group Span Sweep and Wavelength Sweep(The switch needs to be turned on in the General tab of EME solver settings).

Note: When the Override Group Spans switch is enabled, users can analyze the impact of altering the length of structural units on the device without directly modifying the geometric length of the structure.

9.Result View

1) EME Propagete:

Click the button of EME Propagate. After the calculation of EME propagation analysis is completed, the calculation results will be displayed in the viewing results.

In the Result View tree, we can view the transmitted S Matrix, and the data saved in the monitors, ports, etc.

2) Group Span Sweep:

In the Sweep Type in EME Analysis, select "Group Span Sweep" from the scan type dropdown menu. Then, choose the structure Group ID and set the range of length for the scan, then click the Group Span Sweep button to run the length sweep for the structure group.

In the Result View tree, we can find the S-parameter results with the scaning length of the structure group, as shown in the image below.

3) Wavelength Sweep:

The operation of the wavelength sweepis similar to the Group span scan, but the switch (Use Wavelength Sweep) needs to be enabled in the general tab of the EME solver settings first.

The S parameter results after the wavelength scanning can also be found in the Result View window.

FDTD

Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) represents the solution of a partial differential equation as discrete points in time and space, and then uses finite difference to solve the partial differential equation.The simulation process of FDTD is as follows.

1.Create a new project

Click the New Blank Project button on the New & Recent page to create a new blank project.

2.Add Materials

refer to the 4 steps in the figure below:

1. Click the Material Library button in Material on the functional area;

2. Select “Si (Silicon) -Salik” of the material database in the material pop-up window;

3. Import the selected material into the project by clicking Export to Project;

4. The material will be visible in the left Objects Tree.

3.Add Structures

Take the rectangular waveguide as an example. Click the Structure button in the ribbon, then select Rectangle from the drop-down menu, add the structure and set properties.

4.Add FDTD

Click the "Setup Solvers" button in the ribbon, then select "FDTD" from the dropdown menu and configure the properties according to the table below.

5.Add Mode Source

Click the "Sources" button in the ribbon, then select "Mode Source" from the dropdown menu. Set the properties of the mode source according to the table below.

6.Add Monitor

Click the "Monitors" button in the ribbon, then select "Frequency-Domain Field and Power Monitor" from the dropdown menu. Set the properties of the power monitor according to the table below.

7.Run

Saving the project is a necessary step before running the solver. After clicking "Run" in the meun bar, users can also configure the CPU/GPU computing resources for the FDTD simulation through the "Resources" dialog box.

Click the "Run" button at the bottom right of the "Resources" dialog box to start the FDTD simulation.

8.Result View

After the simulation calculation is complete, right-click on the simulation results in the Results View, and select "New 2D Plot" or "New 1D Plot" from the context menu to view different results of the simulation.

For example:

• To view monitor results: FDTD Monitor → Power Monitor → New 2D Plot/New 1D Plot
• To view light source information: Mode Source → Mode Source → New 2D Plot/New 1D Plot

Additionally, users can configure plotting options based on their interests. In the 2D/1D plotting ribbon, users can use "View Data" and "Export" to view and export the result data.