Software for Optics

Raytracing meets Maxwell’s Equations: integrating micro- and macro-optical design

04.05.2006 - Photonik international /2006 |  [ deutsche Version lesen ]

Advances in technology have always presented product developers with unique challenges. This is particularly true in the optics industry, for ­example in the task of integrating micro-scale optical components into marketable products. While designers have at their disposal a wide range of sophisticated software tools, no single software package can operate in both the macroscopic realm of system design and in the microscopic realm of wavelength-scale devices. This article will introduce both approaches – microscopic and macroscopic – for the reader to understand their mutual strengths and limitations. Critical aspects of the interoperability of these complementary tools will be discussed along with several application examples.

Photonik I/2006
Authors: Steven A. Miller, Breault Research Organization (BRO), Tucson, AZ, USA; James Pond, Lumerical Solutions, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Bernhard Michel, Simuloptics Gmb

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