Simulation and ports auto-configuration: The OptoCompiler-INTERCONNECT PIC design flow now supports auto-configuration for FDTD simulations and ports, reducing manual setup in connected workflows.
Synopsys OptoCompiler™- INTERCONNECT Integration:
ONA analysis: The Optical Network Analyzer (ONA) is now available through a setup dialog window in PrimeWave. You can use it to performance frequency analysis when you run INTERCONNECT as an engine in OptoCompiler.
Sentaurus TCAD - Lumerical Workflow:
NP density and doping profile support: The new built-in script command tdrimportdataset available in Lumerical FDTD, MODE and Multiphysics enables the import of NP density and doping profile data. It works in combination with the previously introduced tdraddregion script command. Together, these tools enable different workflows for full simulation of modulators, photodetectors, and other photonic devices.
NP density to Lumerical FDTD and MODE: The Sentaurus TCAD - Lumerical FDTD Workflow now allows NP density data to be imported into Lumerical FDTD and MODE.
Doping profile to Lumerical Multiphysics: Lumerical Multiphysics now supports the import of doping profile data into CHARGE solver. This adds the ability to bring dopant information into CHARGE as part of TCAD-Lumerical workflows.
Ansys Lumerical FDTD™
lumopt2: The new inverse design module, lumopt2, provides a modernized Python API for inverse design, built for greater flexibility, improved usability, faster results, and expanded capabilities. The module is available through the Lumerical installer and includes the following key features:
Direct install with PyLumerical: After installing PyLumerical with pip, you can directly import the lumopt2 module if you have a compatible version of Ansys Lumerical installed. This lets you use lumopt2 within your own Python virtual environment and preferred IDE.
Streamlined support for optimization setup: The lumopt2 module provides a compact, easy-to-use scripting interface for setting up optimizations with fewer lines of code than lumopt. It also includes built-in tools to test your setup and troubleshoot issues early, before running an optimization.
Powerful parameter definition: Built-in classes make it easy to map arbitrary Lumerical object properties to optimization parameters, or to use a specialized class for parameterizing closed curves in photonic integrated circuit applications.
Custom figures of merit: You can use the autograd Python library to build a custom figure of merit by combining the two supported simulation results: mode-coupling efficiency from port objects and field intensity from field region objects.
Flexible visualization: Callback functions let you customize visualization and logging so you can review and export the results most relevant to each step of the optimization.
FDTD port:
Spatial interpolation: Spatial interpolation settings are now available in FDTD ports, allowing you to specify how the monitor in each port interpolates field values.
Bent waveguide and tilted ports: When using a port object with a bent waveguide, the port object also returns a validity factor, “bent wg validity factor”, that indicates the accuracy of the results. For accurate results, this result should be much smaller than one.
FDTD solver:
Temperature dependent materials: GPU FDTD now supports temperature-dependent materials with imported temperature profiles. This enables temperature-dependent refractive index behavior on GPU workflows, including use cases where thermal data is brought into FDTD for photonic and co-packaged optics simulations.
Support to reuse mesh/material data: GPU FDTD can now reuse existing mesh and material data when running repeated simulations where the structure does not change. This allows you to vary source positions, such as dipole locations, without remeshing each run, reducing overhead in sweep-based workflows.
Ansys Cloud Burst Compute™: Ansys Cloud Burst Compute™ for Lumerical now supports running a post-solve analysis script for single jobs in the cloud after the simulation completes. This adds a secondary cloud-based processing step for analysis, allowing for additional results to be returned with the simulation, and enabling workflows to only return key results without the need to transfer a large simulation file. This feature is accessible via both the job submission GUI as well as through the run script command.
3D CAD Modern Viewport:
Glyph improvements (Zoom and Boundary Conditions): We have updated glyph behavior to improve usability in the FDTD 3D modern viewport. Glyphs now remain consistent and readable regardless of zoom level, and symmetric and anti-symmetric boundary condition indicators are more visible. You can toggle whether zoom-independent glyphs are enabled through the modern viewport options.
Clipping plane: We have improved the usability for clipping planes and related visualization tools such as viewing the Simulation Mesh and Ruler. This includes added presets, more consistent behavior when toggling related views to the clipping plane, improved handling of perspective locked through the navigation cube, and corrected display behavior for 3D region visualization.
RCWA solver:
Zemax ZBF v2 support: Lumerical FDTD and MODE now can import the new Zemax ZBF v2 coherent beam file format with new script commands, zbf2read and zbf2write. This updated file contains the full field information Ex,Ey,Ez, while the previous format was omitting Ez. If the .zbf2 file comes from Zemax, Zemax provides Ex, Ey then Lumerical restores the Ez component instead of ignoring it.
Ansys Lumerical Multiphysics™
Improvements to the MQW layer table in MQW, CHARGE, and VCSEL design tool:
Strain values in MQW table: For Semiconductor materials in the MQW layer table in the standalone MQW solver, in the CHARGE/MQW solvers coupled mode, and in the VCSEL solver coupled mode, the internally calculated MQW strain is now shown in the layer table in the UI before running the simulation as soon as the related input options are set manually in UI or via script. For Alloy materials, the internally calculated strain values are shown only as a new rectilinear result dataset "mqw_strain" in the CHARGE object after the simulation, and not directly in the table.
Strain result: For all materials, a new rectilinear result dataset "strain" (in the MQW object) or "mqw_strain" (in the CHARGE object) are new outputs after the simulation.
Additional scripting support: For CHARGE/MQW coupled and VCSEL coupled modes, the set and get script commands, as well as setnamed and getnamed, now support the editable MQW layer table fields in the CHARGE object.
Autopartitioning improvement: The autopartitioning of the MQW layer table for Alloy materials is now supported, so you no longer need to manually override the partitioning table. The autopartitioning in this case is deferred to the Run stage and is synced back to the UI after the simulation.
Tooltip and error message improvement: We have improved some tooltips within the MQW table and the clarity of error reporting when using set/get commands for the MQW layer table.
Ansys Lumerical INTERCONNECT™
Automatic grounding of electrical ports: You can now ground all unconnected electrical ports on imported elements using the script command gnddisconnectedelectricalports. This sets incoming electrical signals to zero by default, helping ensure large circuits created from netlists can be used without manually connecting every electrical port.
IBIS-AMI model: INTERCONNECT now supports the IBIS-AMI CML model on supported Linux platforms. The Linux implementation follows the same workflow as Windows. Regardless of the platform used for training, the generated model files are compatible with both Windows and Linux.
DML Model: In the DM Laser element, total quantum efficiency option has been renamed to Optical efficiency to better reflect the meaning of the value in the model. A new option, current injection efficiency, is added to the model to specify the fraction of total injection current that is injected into the active region. The product of these two efficiencies gives the total differential quantum efficiency. The previous results will not change if the value of the new optical efficiency option is equal to the old total quantum efficiency option and if the new current injection efficiency option is equal to 1.
Ansys Lumerical CML-Compiler™
Nominal variable optical attenuator template: A new nominal variable optical attenuator template is added to CML-Compiler, complementing the existing statistical variable optical attenuator template.
Verilog-A model packaging improvement: When generating Verilog-A models, the models and primitives are separately generated, streamlining the workflow for use cases where only the models are required but not the primitives.
CDF reference JSON: The JSON file containing custom Verilog-A element information and required for manual CDF element setup is now generated with every Verilog-A build.