NEWS

LightTrans VirtualLab™ Software Course in September 2013

(June 12, 2013)

Our next software course is scheduled for September 23-27, 2013. It will take place at our main office in Jena. The first part (September 23-24) is intended for users without or with low knowledge of VirtualLab™. It gives an ”Introduction to LightTrans VirtualLab™” and is intended to facilitate part...

New Management Board

(May 30, 2013)

LightTrans has appointed a new management board with the following chief officers: Chief Executive Officer: Dr. Michael Kuhn Chief Financial Officer: Petra Wyrowski Chief Product Officer: Christian Hellmann Chief Sales Officer: Dr. Hagen Schweitzer The goal of the new board is to continue the su...

Visit us at LASER 2013

(April 30, 2013)

LightTrans invites you to visit us at LASER World of Photonics in Munich (May 13-16). Our team is looking forward to welcome you at our booth B2.242. We will be glad to demonstrate you the new features of VirtualLab 5 in detail. As a highlight we offer a free seminar Modeling of Laser Systems and ...

Rigorous analysis and design of 2D and 3D gratings

Surface profile of a 3D sub-wavelength grating used as antireflection structure.

The VirtualLab™ Grating Toolbox allows the rigorous electromagnetic analysis and design of 2D / 3D diffraction gratings, holographic gratings, Bragg gratings, surface gratings and photonic crystals with features from nanometer to millimeter scale. Diffraction efficiency, near field, polarization, reflectance, transmittance, absorption and the field inside gratings can be calculated. Various customization features allow the analysis and optimization of gratings with user defined structures. These include the import of measured height profiles, as well as programmable height profiles and media which allow to enter a formula describing a height profile or a refractive index distribution.

In addition grating structures can be constructed by building stacks of surfaces and homogeneous as well as inhomogeneous media. The powerful design feature of VirtualLab™ enables the local and global parametric optimization of gratings. The investigation of tolerances is possible by the parameter run.

Your Benefit

Customized 2D grating defined as a stack of surfaces and index modulations.
Customized 2D grating defined as a stack of surfaces and index modulations.
  • Electromagnetic and approximated analysis of 2D / 3D diffraction gratings, holographic gratings, Bragg gratings, surface gratings and photonic crystals as for example diffractive beam splitters, polarizers, antireflection structures, diffractive optical elements, photovoltaic systems, holographic gratings, and spectroscopic gratings.
  • 2D and 3D gratings with feature sizes from nanometer to millimeter scale.
  • Calculation of diffraction orders, efficiency, near field, polarization, reflectance, transmittance, absorption and field inside grating.
  • Investigation of tolerances, parameter variations and parametric optimization.

Selected Features

Surface profile of 2D sinusoidal grating.

Analysis of 2D and 3D gratings. The Grating Toolbox is using the Fourier Modal Method for a rigorous analysis of 2D / 3D diffraction gratings, holographic gratings, surface gratings and photonic crystals. Predefined gratings as for example sinusoidal, triangular, sawtooth, holographic gratings as well as customized grating structures can be modeled. Typical applications are the analysis of polarizers, spectroscopic gratings, diffractive beam splitters, photonic crystals, gratings for fiber coupling, sub-wavelength gratings, moth-eye structures, artificial media and zeroth-order gratings.

Pyramid type 3D surface grating
Pyramid type 3D surface grating

Customized 2D and 3D gratings. The Grating Toolbox supports the import of measured 1D and 2D height profiles. Furthermore, programmable interfaces and programmable media allow to enter a formula describing a height profile or the distribution of the refractive index. The stack concept enables the description of gratings as a sequence of surfaces as well as homogeneous and inhomogeneous media.

Evaluation of field distributions. Depending on grating applications, various evaluations of simulation results are required. This includes for example the calculation of diffraction orders, efficiencies, near field, polarization, reflectance, transmittance, absorption and field inside grating.

Tolerance analysis and optimization of gratings. The powerful parameter run of VirtualLab™ enables the variation of a single parameter, the multidimensional scanning parameter variation and a random (Monte-Carlo) parameter variation in order to investigate the effects of tolerances . VirtualLab™ enables the design of predefined and customized grating structures by parametric optimization.

Reflectance of 3D sub-wavelength pillar type medium.

Reflectance of 3D sub-wavelength pillar type medium.