Emerging Trends In Photonics Modeling

Continued exponential improvements in computational resources bring new opportunities and challenges for photonics modeling. In particular, widely available and inexpensive computer clusters are making a dramatic impact by allowing larger simulation volumes to be computed faster. The growth in accessible computing power is driving a trend towards the most exact modeling techniques which can address an increasing range of applications in integrated optics, and allow designers to take advantage of state-of-the-art manufacturing technology. We demonstrate how this opportunity can be exploited in the area of photonic integration to rigorously simulate three-dimensional devices by FDTD previously thought to be intractable. For example, large-volume, hybrid devices composed of both dielectrics and metals with sub-wavelength structure can now be simulated. Moreover, simulations can include realistic manufacturing imperfections. This allows designers to create and optimize robust devices that are resistant to the imperfections introduced by viable, cost-effective manufacturing.