Note: These events occurred in the past. However, the associated files may still be of interest.
Join our workshop where we will perform inverse design using the adjoint optimization method to design a robust, small-footprint y-splitter. We combine Lumerical’s industry leading FDTD simulator (https://www.lumerical.com/products/fdtd) with lumopt (https://github.com/chriskeraly/lumopt) to design a y-splitter that can be manufactured and measured at SiEPICfab.
Workshop registration
We are hosting this workshop in a few locations. Please note that you must register for the conference events as well as register for the Lumerical workshop.
- May 17th, 2019 at the University of Toronto, 12-1:30pm, as part of OptoFest. Information and registration for OptoFest can be found at https://photonics.utoronto.ca/optofest-2019/. Lumerical registration for the workshop can be done at https://www.lumerical.com/learn/training/optofest-inverse-design-workshop/
- May 22nd, 2019 at Photonics North, 8:30am to 9:30am in room 306A. Please note this is a change from the originally scheduled time of 10:55am-12pm on May 21st in room 2000 B. Information and registration for Photonics North can be found at http://www.photonicsnorth.com/. Lumerical registration for the workshop can be done at https://www.lumerical.com/learn/training/pn19-inverse-design-workshop/
- May 29th, 2019 as part of SPHPC. Information and registration for SPHPC can be found at http://www.engr.colostate.edu/SPHPC/. Lumerical registration for the workshop can be done at https://www.lumerical.com/learn/training/sphpc19-inverse-design-workshop/
Preparing for the workshop
- Please register at one of the events above.
- Ensure you download and install the latest version of FDTD from https://www.lumerical.com/downloads/customer/
- Download inverse_design_workshop_files_May_2019.zip and Inverse_Design_Workshop.pdf
- If you want to perform layout of your final design for submission to SiEPICfab, install KLayout and the SiEPIC Ebeam PDK by following the instructions at https://github.com/lukasc-ubc/SiEPIC_EBeam_PDK/wiki/Installation-instructions
Workshop outline
- Brief review of inverse design using the adjoint optimization method
- Make some design choices
- Bandwidth, number of parameters, spline boundary conditions, lithography variations
- Advanced users may want to change parameterization entirely!
- Have a break, lunch or coffee while the computer optimizes for you!
- View final S-parameter performance
- The best design will get a small prize!
- Run python script to create full gds layout in KLayout, configured for cutback measurements of IL
Getting your device fabricated and measured
If desired, submit design to SiEPICfab for fabrication and measurement. This is free of charge and you will be sent the measurement results. Space is limited and will be given on a first come, first served basis. Details for how to submit your designs for fabrication will be given at the workshop.
A preview of some of the workshop results
The splitter itself will look something like this by the end of the workshop:
The S parameters will be extracted from full 3D FDTD simulation:
Finally, we’ll get you all set up with a full layout that can be submitted to SiEPICfab for fabrication. The measurements will allow you to extract the IL of the individual splitter. Here’s a view of a part of the layout where you can see the grating couplers used for optical I/O:
Here’s a zoomed in view of some of the layout we’ll create: