Efficient three dimensional aperiodic rigorous coupled wave analysis technique

The frequency-domain aperiodic rigorous coupled wave analysis method is used for the implementation of both the efficient two-dimensional mode solver and, including the advanced scattering matrix approaches, the three-dimensional propagation technique. As efficient boundary conditions, both complex coordinate transformation and uniaxial anisotropic perfectly matched layers have been applied and tested. Also, inspired with the two-dimensional case, the adaptive spatial resolution technique has been adapted into the concept and successfully implemented here which reduced the number of harmonics included within the model. Still, because of the need for modelling more complicated three-dimensional structures and of extreme computational costs and demands in these cases, we have included the structural symmetries concept into the algorithm, too. Their application enabled to significantly reduce both the computational memory consumptions and calculation times in order to allow future simulation of realistic structures of interest, such as photonic structures with high-index contrast and/or plasmonic structures with strong material dispersions. Finally, several functional examples will be presented and discussed with clear evidence on the efficiency and broad applicability of the method developed.