The MODE reference manual provides detailed descriptions of product and solver (FDE, EME, varFDTD) features.
Related resources
- FDE, EME, varFDTD courses: Self-paced courses intended for beginner to intermediate users with a focus on providing an understanding of solver physics, simulation workflow and data analysis. The "My first simulation" section is a great getting-started tutorial.
- Ansys Learning Forum (Photonics category): A large repository of Q&A content from the Ansys Lumerical community.
- Application Gallery: Find example files, simulation methodologies, and tips to help you get started quickly and easily. You can also browse the application gallery directly from within our products. Waveguides and Edge Couplers are good examples to start with.
Solvers
Learn about the MODE solvers and related topics
- 2.5D varFDTD solver introduction
- Finite Difference Eigenmode (FDE) solver introduction
- EigenMode Expansion (EME) solver introduction
- Units and normalization
- Frequency domain normalization
- Spectral averaging
- Parseval's theorem - Energy conservation
Material properties
Learn how to define the material properties that will be used in your simulations.
- Material Database
- Material Explorer
- Material Permittivity Models
- Anisotropic Materials
- Advanced Material Models
- Flexible Material Plugin Framework
- Mesh Order
Simulation objects
These objects are used to model the physical structure, define the solver region, any sources of light or doping/generation regions as well as monitors to collect data. The pages provide detailed descriptions of each simulation object. Simulation objects can be added by clicking on the corresponding icon in the GUI.
Structures
- Primitives: Triangle, Rectangle, Polygon, Circle, Ring, Custom, Surface, Waveguide, Sphere, Pyramid, Planar solid, 2D rectangle, 2D polygon
- Complex structures: Arrays of objects, Rounded corners, Waveguide bends, Sidewall angle, Spiral and helix, Surface roughness, 3D contour
- Layer builder
- Dataset builder
- Extending structures through PML
- Equation interpreter
Groups
Attributes
Simulation
Simulation objects are used to define simulation parameters like boundary conditions and mesh size. More information about the solver algorithms can be found in the Solvers section.
- FDE solver
- varFDTD solver
- EME solver
- Mesh override
- Getting the mesh size
- Using the mesh settings tab
- Using the boundary conditions tab
Import
The import button includes options to import from a variety of formats:
Sources
Monitors
- Refractive index
- EME index
- Effective index
- Field time
- Movie
- EME profile
- Frequency-domain (profile /power)
- Mode expansion
- Apodization
- Spectral averaging
Parameter sweeps, optimizations, and Monte Carlo analysis
Learn how to run parameter sweep, optimization, and yield analysis tasks.
Result analysis
Learn how to access and analyze simulation data.