From ray optics to modal analysis: using photonics web simulations to build intuition and address common misconceptions

Erik Verlage; Glenda S. Stump; Anne Marshall; Saif Rayyan; Sajan Saini; Lionel C. Kimerling; Lionel C. Kimerling

doi:10.1364/AO.502222

Applied Optics
Vol. 63,
Issue 1,
pp. 138-146
(2024)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.502222

From ray optics to modal analysis: using photonics web simulations to build intuition and address common misconceptions

Erik Verlage, Glenda S. Stump, Anne Marshall, Saif Rayyan, Sajan Saini, and Lionel C. Kimerling

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Erik Verlage, Glenda S. Stump, Anne Marshall, Saif Rayyan, Sajan Saini, and Lionel C. Kimerling, "From ray optics to modal analysis: using photonics web simulations to build intuition and address common misconceptions," Appl. Opt. 63, 138-146 (2024)

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- Integrated Optics
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The topics in this list come from the Optics and Photonics Topics applied to this article.

About this Article
History
- Original Manuscript: August 7, 2023
- Revised Manuscript: November 21, 2023
- Manuscript Accepted: November 27, 2023
- Published: December 21, 2023
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Applied Optics Photonics and Optics Workforce (2023)

Abstract

The emerging field of silicon photonics has created a large need for Ph.D. photonic integrated circuit design engineers. Developing intuition for electromagnetic waves at the micron scale is a major challenge facing undergraduate and graduate students in photonics. Students often misapply lessons learned from macroscale ray optics to submicron waveguide modes in dielectric structures. In this work, key student misconceptions were identified and addressed in a research study using photonics training simulations. A learning module with interactive 3D vector field visualizations was deployed in a massive open online course to train the next generation of photonics design engineers.

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Supplementary Material (3)

Name	Description
Data File 1	Survey results after Week 1 of the 2022-2023 massive open online course Integrated Photonics Simulation Library 1
Visualization 1	Interactive waveguide explorer simulation, which helps students visualize electromagnetic fields in TE and TM waveguide modes.
Visualization 2	Pretest and posttest used to test students' understanding of basic properties of dielectric waveguides, and mode order and polarization, ray optics, and modal analysis.

Data availability

Anonymized data underlying results presented in this paper are available in Data File 1.

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Description of Pre/Posttest Question	RQ
Q1. Learners were presented with a 2D electric field vector and a coordinate axis. They were asked to draw the $x$ and $y$ field components and label them $E_{x}$ and $E_{y}$ in the diagram.	RQ1
Q2. Learners were presented with a colorized cross-sectional view of electric field component $E_{y}$ in a rectangular waveguide (as shown in Fig. 4 Q2). They were asked to draw the 2D vector component $E_{y}$ at multiple points labeled A–D using the length of the vector to indicate the relative strength of the electric field.	RQ2
Q3a-b. In their own words, learners were asked to describe how light is confined in a dielectric waveguide from the total internal reflection/ray optics perspective (3a) and the standing waves/modal analysis perspective (3b).	RQ3
Q4. Learners were presented with a colorized cross-sectional electric field profile for a waveguide mode propagating in a rectangular waveguide, shown in Fig. 4 Q4 below. The guided mode had a prominent evanescent field extending into the cladding material. They were asked if there would be loss of power as light traveled down the waveguide, and to provide rationale for their response.	RQ4
Q5. Learners were asked to identify the polarization (TE/TM) and mode order for four cross-sectional mode profiles (Fig. 4 Q5) based on the shape and direction of the EM field component.	RQ5

	All Participants $N = 20$		Undergraduate $N = 11$		Graduate $N = 9$		Guided (C1) $N = 10$		Unguided (C2) $N = 10$
	Pre (%)	Post	Pre	Post	Pre	Post	Pre	Post	Pre	Post
Q1	12 (60)	14 (70)	4 (36)	6 (55)	8 (89)	8 (89)	8 (80)	9 (90)	4 (40)	5 (50)
Q2	8 (40)	13 (65)	1 (9)	6 (55)	7 (78)	7 (78)	5 (50)	8 (80)	3 (30)	5 (50)
Q3a	12 (60)	18 (90)	4 (36)	10 (91)	8 (89)	8 (89)	7 (70)	10 (100)	5 (50)	8 (80)
Q3b	4 (20)	8 (40)	0 (0)	2 (18)	4 (44)	6 (67)	2 (20)	4 (40)	2 (20)	4 (40)
Q4	8 (40)	10 (50)	5 (46)	4 (36)	3 (33)	6 (67)	3 (30)	5 (50)	5 (50)	5 (50)
Q5	5 (25)	13 (65)	2 (18)	6 (55)	3 (33)	7 (78)	1 (10)	6 (60)	4 (40)	7 (70)

	Mean $⟨ g ⟩$	SD	Var	Min	Max
All participants ( $N = 20$ )	0.47	0.34	0.11	−0.17	1.00
Undergraduate ( $N = 11$ )	0.41	0.28	0.08	−0.17	0.89
Graduate ( $N = 9$ )	0.55	0.40	0.16	0.00	1.00

Survey Question $N = 116$	Strongly Agree	Agree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
I fully understand the concepts demonstrated in the simulations.	45	61	7	1	2
The simulations in this module helped develop my knowledge of the course content.	78	33	2	0	3
Overall, this module helped to increase my knowledge of the course content.	57	55	2	0	2
The amount of information covered in this module was overwhelming.	21	21	25	35	14

Description of Pre/Posttest Question	RQ
Q1. Learners were presented with a 2D electric field vector and a coordinate axis. They were asked to draw the $x$ and $y$ field components and label them $E_{x}$ and $E_{y}$ in the diagram.	RQ1
Q2. Learners were presented with a colorized cross-sectional view of electric field component $E_{y}$ in a rectangular waveguide (as shown in Fig. 4 Q2). They were asked to draw the 2D vector component $E_{y}$ at multiple points labeled A–D using the length of the vector to indicate the relative strength of the electric field.	RQ2
Q3a-b. In their own words, learners were asked to describe how light is confined in a dielectric waveguide from the total internal reflection/ray optics perspective (3a) and the standing waves/modal analysis perspective (3b).	RQ3
Q4. Learners were presented with a colorized cross-sectional electric field profile for a waveguide mode propagating in a rectangular waveguide, shown in Fig. 4 Q4 below. The guided mode had a prominent evanescent field extending into the cladding material. They were asked if there would be loss of power as light traveled down the waveguide, and to provide rationale for their response.	RQ4
Q5. Learners were asked to identify the polarization (TE/TM) and mode order for four cross-sectional mode profiles (Fig. 4 Q5) based on the shape and direction of the EM field component.	RQ5

Abstract

Supplementary Material (3)

Data availability

Cited By

Figures (4)

Tables (4)

Applied Optics