NEWS

Learn more about VirtualLab™ at "Photonics West 2012”!

(January 11, 2012)

LightTrans is planning several activities at the Photonics West Conferences and Exhibitions taking place in San Francisco, CA, starting on January 21 2012. We would like to welcome you at our booth no. 4601 in the German Pavilion and invite you to a presentation of VirtualLab™ 5 – the new generation...

VirtualLab™ 5.1 Released!

(December 20, 2011)

The latest release VirtualLab™ 5.1 introduces several novelties and improvements. First, a 3D view of the entire system has been introduced making the system setup easier. A ray tracing mode is available now which gives a first insight about the behavior of systems. Catalogs for light sources and co...

Software Courses 2012 – First Announcement

(November 28, 2011)

In order to allow a reliable planning for our customers we have scheduled two software courses for 2012 already. The two courses are

Course 1: April 24 - 27, 2012 "Introduction to Unified Optical Modeling using LightTrans VirtualLab™" Speaker: Dr. Michael Kuhn, LightTrans Target Group: ...

Fourier modal method for rigorous grating analysis

VirtualLab™ 4.6 and higher enables the rigorous electromagnetic analysis of 3-D index-modulated gratings. In version 4.6, the index-modulation can be described by a pillar-type medium that can be used to simulate artificial media and zero-order gratings.

Your Benefit

  • Simulation of sub-wavelength gratings, i. e. zeroth order gratings and artificial media with the rigorous Fourier Modal Method.
  • You can calculate efficiencies, angles and Rayleigh coefficients of the transmitted and reflected orders as well as the overall reflectance, transmittance, and absorption.
  • It is possible to analyze the near field including polarization effects.
  • You can vary among others incident angle, polarization, and structure parameters of the gratings with the parameter run.

Selected Features

Session Editor for easy configuration. A Session Editor guides you step by step through the setup of an optical system for the rigorous analysis of an index-modulated grating.

Transmitted field of a grating with a period of two lambda, calculated with different numbers of evanescent orders.

Fourier Modal Method for three-dimensional gratings. The Fourier Modal Method implemented in VirtualLab™ allows you to adjust numerical parameters to find the best compromise between accuracy and calculation speed. Moreover it gives insight into the convergence of the technique.

Analyzer to calculate efficiencies, angles and Rayleigh coefficients of the distinct diffraction orders. VirtualLab™ Grating Efficiency Analyzer allows you to calculate efficiencies, angles and Rayleigh coefficients (~complex amplitudes) of the distinct diffraction orders. Furthermore you can calculate the overall reflectance, transmittance, and absorption.

Pillar Medium to model sub-wavelength gratings. You can adapt shape (elliptical or rectangular), size and distances of the pillars. Both the base material and the pillar material can be set to a large variety of preset materials – or you can define your own material. If you have configured your pillar medium you can save it for further use in other setups.

Parameter Run to vary in a convenient way parameters of the incident wave as well as structural and numerical parameters of the grating. The Parameter Run allows you to vary among others wavelength and polarization angle of the incident wave,  orientation of the grating as well as structural parameters of the pillar medium. It is possible to generate diagrams and animations from the resulting data.

Outlook Feature Development

  • Support for further media and structures, especially support for a customized medium which allows fast implementation of new structures
  • Contact us with your comments and suggestions for further features demanded for rigorous analysis of periodic structures