Benchmarking of software tools for the characterization of nanoparticles

Area of Science:

• Computational electromagnetics
• Nano-optics and plasmonics
• Numerical analysis of electromagnetic fields

Background:

• Growing importance of nanoscale systems in optics and photonics.
• Limited availability of electromagnetic (EM) tools for analyzing optical responses of nanometric radiators and scatterers in the visible to near ultraviolet spectrum.
• Need for validated numerical tools to accurately simulate nano-plasmonic phenomena.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comparatively study and benchmark the accuracy of widely used EM field solvers in nano-plasmonics.
• To investigate the performance of COMSOL, CST, and Lumerical for analyzing optical responses of nanoparticles.
• To assess the near and far-field characteristics predicted by these solvers for canonical nanoparticles.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of three leading EM field solvers: COMSOL, CST, and Lumerical.
• Investigation of near and far-field characteristics of basic canonical nanoparticles (spheres, shells, cubes, cuboids).
• Systematic variation of nanoparticle sizes and constituent materials to evaluate solver performance across different parameters.

Main Results:

• Significant variations in accuracy were observed among the evaluated EM field solvers.
• Not all solvers provide consistent accuracy for analyzing the optical response of nano-plasmonic structures.
• Performance differences were highlighted for canonical nanoparticles with varying sizes and materials.

Conclusions:

• The accuracy of commercial EM field solvers for nano-plasmonics applications is not uniform.
• Researchers must carefully select EM solvers based on their specific nano-plasmonic simulation needs.
• Further investigation and validation of EM solvers are crucial for reliable nanoscale optical analysis.