Nano-Optical Device Design with the Use of Open-Source Parallel Version FDTD and Commercial Finite Element Package

TL;DR

This paper compares open-source FDTD and commercial finite element methods for nano-optical device design, focusing on implementation, performance, and computational architecture on different hardware platforms.

Contribution

It demonstrates the application and performance analysis of open-source and commercial tools in nano-optical device design on high-performance and standard computing hardware.

Findings

Open-source FDTD (MEEP) effectively runs on supercomputers for nano-optical design.

Commercial finite element package (COMSOL) performs well on standard workstations.

Performance differences highlight hardware and software considerations in nano-optical simulations.

Abstract

In this paper, the implementation of open-source parallel-version FDTD (Finite-Difference-Time-Domain) software, MEEP, on Texas A&M supercomputers and commercial finite element package, COMSOL, on a single workstation for the design design of nano-optical device is reported. The the computer architecture and performance of both numerical methods on the same design will be briefly described.