High-performance hybrid time/frequency-domain topology optimization for large-scale photonics inverse design

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Computational Electromagnetics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Topology optimization (TO) is crucial for designing advanced photonic devices.
• Existing TO methods often struggle with manufacturing constraints and scalability for complex designs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a versatile photonics topology optimization package.
• To incorporate robustness and manufacturing constraints into the design process.
• To enable scalable simulations for large photonic devices.

Main Methods:

• A hybrid algorithm combining finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations with frequency-domain TO.
• Utilizing Meep, a mature FDTD package, for simultaneous multi-frequency TO.
• Implementing new filter-design sources for gradient calculation and material interpolation for dispersive media.
• Leveraging computational parallelism for large-scale problems.

Main Results:

• The package effectively addresses a wide range of practical photonics design challenges.
• The hybrid time/frequency-domain approach enhances optimization over broad bandwidths.
• The software supports optimization with manufacturing constraints and material dispersion.

Conclusions:

• The presented photonics TO package offers a powerful, scalable, and flexible solution for photonic device design.
• The free/open-source availability with extensive tutorials promotes wider adoption and innovation in the field.