Method for the design of diffractive optical elements through low-dimensional optimization

Author

Peters, David W. ; Hunt, William D.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA, USA

Volume

38

Issue

10

fYear

2002

fDate

10/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1436

Lastpage

1445

Abstract

A method for the simulation and design of diffractive optical structures is presented. In this paper, we present a design of a finite diffractive-optic structure that has been generated by solving for the electromagnetic fields inside an optimization loop. The scalar electromagnetic fields are computed in the region of a two-dimensional diffractive-optic structure by solving the scalar Helmholtz equation, using the finite-difference method. This analysis process is inserted into a simulated annealing algorithm that designs the optimal structure by maximizing a predetermined figure of merit. Computationally efficient methods that allow for reasonable computational requirements are described, including the defining of structure parameters as relatively simple polynomial functions. This allows for changes in the structure to be made by the program while maintaining a small number of dimensions for the search by the simulated annealing algorithm.

Keywords

Helmholtz equations; computational complexity; convergence of numerical methods; diffraction gratings; diffractive optical elements; finite difference methods; iterative methods; optical couplers; optical design techniques; optical engineering computing; physics computing; simulated annealing; computationally efficient methods; computer program; convergence; design method; design program; diffractive optical elements; field pattern; finite diffractive-optic structure; finite-difference method; five-dimensional search space; grating coupler; low-dimensional optimization; number of iterations; optical waveguides; optimization loop; planar devices; predetermined figure of merit; reduced computational time; scalar Helmholtz equation; scalar electromagnetic fields; simulated annealing algorithm; slab waveguide; time-harmonic solution; two-dimensional structure; volume grating; Algorithm design and analysis; Computational modeling; Design methodology; Design optimization; Electromagnetic diffraction; Electromagnetic fields; Equations; Optical design; Optical diffraction; Simulated annealing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JQE.2002.802981

Filename

1035994