MODE Solutions 2.0
New Features
Sophisticated scripting language
MODE Solutions now supports a sophisticated scripting language, which can be used to automate simulation and analysis. It also allows more complicated analysis to be performed. For a detailed description, please see the scripting language chapter.
SEM data import
Structure profiles can now be imported into a special simulation primitive. This allows the user to define a binary refractive index distribution from, say, an SEM image or other image. For more details, see the Import primitives 1 section.
Mode tracker
MODE Solutions can track individual modes of complex waveguides and fibers. This makes it easy to calculate group delay and dispersion for waveguides and fibers that support many modes. For more details, see the Frequency analysis section.
Mode searcher
MODE Solutions can search for modes near a desired effective index, or search for modes over a range of effective indices. This makes it easy to find modes of complex waveguide or fiber geometries, including photonic crystal fiber. For more details, please see the Modal analysis section.
Comprehensive material models
Full material dispersion models can now be incorporated into simulation projects. See theMaterial database section.
Waveguide bend calculations
MODE Solutions has a new waveguide bend calculation. You can easily set a radius of curvature for any waveguide. This allows the user to calculate coupling efficiencies from straight sections to bent sections, as well as calculate the losses due to bending. See the Modal analysis section.
Overlap calculations
Overlap calculations can now be performed with Gaussian beams, modes calculated for other waveguides, and even with arbitrary fields imported from ASAP.
Interface with ASAP
Mode profiles can be imported to and from ASAP, an advanced ray tracing software available from Breault Research Organization (BRO). For more details, please see the File I/O section.
Angular far field projections
MODE Solutions now displays far field projections as function of angle as well as projecting to planar surfaces. You can calculate the power in a desired angular cone by simply dragging the mouse! See the Modal analysis section.
MODE Solutions 3.0
New Features
GDSII import
MODE Solutions can now import GDSII files. The GDSII files use a standard data format to store 2D geometric data. These files can be imported to create complex multi-layered structures in your simulations. For more information, see the GDS Import section.
Graded mesh
MODE Solutions now supports a non-uniform, or graded, mesh. This can dramatically increase speed and accuracy for many problems, as well as reducing the memory requirements. For more information, please see Non uniform mesh.
Improved figure windows
Control over the figure window color map has been expanded. The color map limits can now be adjusted. This is useful when creating several images with a consistent color map. A grey scale color map is also available, which is useful when creating figures to be printed in black and white.
n and k import
The import structure, used to import physical structure data from a file, has been expanded. Refractive index (n and k) data as a function of space can be imported from a file or matrix. See the Import primitives section.
Native support for Win x64
MODE Solutions has added a full Windows x64 application to the current Windows 32-bit and Linux 32- and 64-bit versions. For details on installing the correct version for your hardware and operating system (OS), please see the Installation Manuals.
Online help
The MODE Solutions Online Help is now available. This resource contains up to date copies of the Installation Manuals, Getting Started Guide and Reference Guide. All content is fully searchable. The online help also contains a number of example simulation and script files. New information and examples are constantly being added to the online help.
Polygon primitives
MODE Solutions now supports extruded N-sided polygons and triangles.
Surface imports
The import structure, used to import physical structure data from a file, has been expanded. Surface data of the form y = f(x) or z = f(x,y) can be imported from a file or matrix. This data can be generated from an analytic formula or from an experimental source such as an AFM. See the Import primitives section.
Windows Vista support
Windows Vista has been added to the list of supported systems. For details on installing the correct version for your hardware and operating system (OS), please see the Installation Manuals.
MODE Solutions 4.0
New Features
Conformal mesh
Achieve higher accuracy for a given mesh size with conformal meshing. The conformal meshing technique can resolve interfaces to much higher precision than the standard staircase meshing, making it an ideal method to solve structures with thin layers, curved surfaces and high index contrast materials, such as surface plasmon or silicon on insulator waveguides.
MAC OS X support
Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard and above has been added to the list of supported systems. For installation instructions, see the MAC Installation Manual.
Windows 7 support
Windows 7 has been added to the list of supported systems. For installation instructions, see the Windows Installation Manual.
Structure groups
The ability to group structures is one of the main new features in MODE 4. Groups can be moved, rotated and copied as a single object. In addition to simple grouping, it is possible to create parameterized group-objects by adding script code to the group.
For example, it is possible to create a Photonic Crystal Array group with a Pitch input parameter. When the Pitch parameter is changed, all objects in the group will automatically move to the appropriate position. For an example of how to create and use a group see the Photonic Crystal fiber tutorial in the Getting Started guide.
Object tree browser
The object tree browser provides an alternate view of objects within a simulation. It is especially useful for complicated simulations with many overlapping objects. In such cases, it is much easier to select objects from the tree view than directly in the graphical view ports. It also makes selecting objects within groups possible. For more information, see the layout editor tabs and object tree section of the Layout editor chapter.
Built in script file editor and syntax highlighting
The Script file editor allows you to create, edit, and run script files directly from within MODE Solutions, rather than using another text editor like Notepad. The Run Script button makes running the script quick and easy. Syntax highlighting makes it easier to read, write and debug script files (Comments are green, strings are red, and loop/control statements are blue). For more information, see the script prompt and script file editor page in the Layout editor section.
Copy and Paste
MODE Solutions now supports Copy and Paste operations. This allows you to copy (Ctrl-C) a group of objects from one simulation and paste (Ctrl-V) a copy of those objects into a different simulation. This is especially useful with the new structure groups.
New script commands
The following script functions were added in MODE Solutions 4.0. For more information, see the function description in the scripting section of the Reference Guide.
system, almostequal, not, square brackets, single quotes, format, addstructuregroup, adduserprop, addtogroup, getmaterial, havedata, layoutmode, runwizard, wizardgetdata, setplot, getcommands, mod, setanalysis
In addition, near to far field projections and grating calculation script functions have been added.
Online Help search bar
The Online Help search toolbar provides easy access to the MODE Solutions Online Help website. The toolbar will open your default web browser and search the Online Help for the requested term. This is particularly useful when searching for script function syntax.
Simplified installation
Simplified licensing: The USB hardware keys now contain much of the licensing information (expiry dates, quotas). In many cases, license files are no longer required.
Matlab script integration: FDTD Solutions automatically detects MATLAB. The MATLAB script integration step of the FDTD installation has been removed.
MATLAB is a registered trademark of The Mathworks, Inc.
Completely new material database
The material database has been completely redesigned in MODE 4. The Database provides an interface to modify the properties of existing materials and to add new materials. The Material Explorer is used to view the index/permittivity profile of material in the database. See the Material Database chapter for more information.
It’s possible to define materials directly from simple models like Plasma or Lorentz, from a table of experimental (n,k) data, and from an automatically generated model based on a table of experimental (n,k) data. The number of materials included in the Material Database has been increased. Co, Cr, Cu, Ge, In, Ni, Pt, Ti, W, AlN, GaAs, H20 are some of the new materials. The frequency range of the data has also been expanded. Most materials have data at least from deep UV to far infrared.
The MODE material database is now compatible with the material database in FDTD 6.5.
GUI upgrade
The entire Graphical User Interface has been updated. It is now possible to undock individual sub-windows from the main application. This can be very helpful when trying to make one sub-window very large. Another new feature is the ability to show/hide and rearrange toolbars
Unicode characters
MODE Solutions now supports Unicode file names and file paths. This allows users to work in directories and save simulation files with names that include characters from Japanese, Chinese, or other languages that are supported by the Unicode format.
MODE Solutions 5.0
New Features
Rotatable mode sources
MODE sources can now be injected along an angled plane by setting the rotation angles (see Sources 1). Users should make sure to extend the waveguide/fiber through the PML boundaries, and make sure that the "extend structure through pml" property under Edit MODE Simulation -> Advanced options is unselected.
Datasets
Lumerical datasets are structured data objects that collect a set of related matrices into a single convenient object, allowing one to package raw data into meaningful results that can be easily parameterized and visualized.
Yield analysis tool
A new yield analysis tool is available in the Optimization and Sweeps window. The yield analysis tool gives users the ability to run extensive Monte Carlo analysis, sweeping across multiple parameters to assess statistical variations of circuit elements on overall circuit performance.
Material fitting improvements
The material fitting routine has been optimized to improve material fits for dispersive sampled materials with low losses.
Other new script commands
The following script functions were added in MODE Solutions 6.0. For more information, see the function descriptions in the scripting section of the Reference Guide.
‘. operator’, addattribute, addparameter, eig, debug, getattribute, getparameter, getresult, getsweepresult, matrixdataset, rectilineardataset, addmodeexpansion,mult, permute, integrate2, reshape, updatesourcemode, updatemodes, seteigensolver, geteigensolver, clearmodedata, lookupread, lookupwrite, lookupopen, lookupclose
Propagator
In addition to the eigensolver, MODE 5 contains an propagator. Lumerical’s 2.5D propagator is based on a fully vectorial and physically rigourous method to collapse a 3D geometry into a 2D simulation, making it possible to solve the 2D geometry quickly using FDTD. The propagator allows for planar propagation without any assumptions about an optical axis, which allows for structures like photonic crystal cavities and ring resonators to be efficiency handled
For an overview of the 2.5D Propagator, see the Lumerical’s 2.5D FDTD Propagation Method 1 whitepaper on our website. For step by step instructions for a simple use case for the propagator, please see the Getting Started examples. In addition, the online help contains application examples which use the propagator.
3D Drawing environment with a rotating eigenmode solver
The drawing environment for MODE 5 is now 3 dimensional. The 1 and 2 dimensional eigenmode solver can now be oriented along either the x, y or z axes.
A 2 dimensional drawing mode is provided so that it is possible to work only with a 2 dimensional slice of the structure. The 2 dimensional drawing mode looks very similar to the 2 dimensional drawing environment from MODE 4.
Shared CAD environment for eigensolver and propagator
The eigenmode solver and the propagator share the same CAD environment. It is possible to add both an eigenmode solver and a propagation region to the simulation simultaneously. At any particular time only one of the solvers will be active.
Object tree browser
All of the objects in a simulation will be depicted in a list in the object tree browser. The objects may be easily edited, grouped or set to active/inactive using the object tree browser. For the eigensolver the modes, frequencysweep and refractive index data can now also be seen on the objects tree. For more information, see the object tree and object library section of the Layout editor chapter.
Optimization/Sweeps
MODE 5 contains built in parameter sweeps and optimization routines. These routines make it possible to sweep parameters such as structure sizes or bend radii through an easy to use graphical interface.
Job Manager
The job manager provides a convenient way to run multiple simulations, and send those simulations out to any computers on the network. You can use script commands to add multiple simulations (ie different .lms files) to a job queue. The links for the script commands can be found under the new script commands heading below.
Eigenmode solver uses multi-threaded libraries
The eigenmode solver now makes uses of multi-threaded libraries. If you search for modes on a multiple core computer, you will be able to see that MODE 5 will use multiple cores.
Improved material fitting for low loss materials
The material fitting routine has been optimized to improve material fits for dispersive sampled materials with low losses.
Fully Vectorial thin lens beam source
The overlap analysis tab for the eigenmode solver now contains a thin lens beam source. Details regarding the settings and references can be found on the sources 1 page.