Full three dimensional inverse design of dielectric slab based scattering optical elements devices

TL;DR

This paper introduces a full 3D inverse design method for dielectric slab-based optical devices using a specialized electromagnetic solver, enabling practical design of complex photonic structures on standard computers.

Contribution

The work presents the first implementation of a practical 3D inverse design tool for SOI photonic structures using a dedicated electromagnetic solver.

Findings

Successful implementation of a 3D inverse design tool

Designs can be computed on a standard desktop computer

Enables more accurate 3D photonic device optimization

Abstract

Inverse design through optimization of dielectric photonic devices is a very powerful tool. However so far the direct solver used in the design process is almost always restricted to solve Maxwell's equation in two dimensions (2D). Here we will show that by using a specific three dimensional (3D) electromagnetic field-solver we can implement a full 3D inverse design tool for Silicon On Insulator (SOI) slab based photonic structures which can be run on a normal desktop computer.