Abstract

Numerical simulations have become a cornerstone technology in the development of nanophotonic devices. Specifically, 3D finite-difference time domain (FDTD) simulations are widely used due to their flexibility and powerful design capabilities. More recently, FDTD simulations in conjunction with a design methodology called inverse design has become a popular way to optimize device topology, reducing a device’s footprint and increasing performance. We implement a commercial inverse design tool to generate complex grating couplers and explore a variety of grating coupler design methodologies. We compare the conventionally designed grating couplers to those generated by the inverse design tool. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the inverse design tool and how different design strategies for grating couplers affect inverse design performance, in terms of both computational cost and performance of the resulting device.

© 2023 Optica Publishing Group

Inverse design of a Si-based high-performance vertical-emitting meta-grating coupler on a 220 nm silicon-on-insulator platform

Jinhyeong Yoon, Jae-Yong Kim, Junhyeong Kim, Hyeonho Yoon, Berkay Neşeli, Hyo-Hoon Park, and Hamza Kurt
Photon. Res. 11(6) 897-905 (2023)

Topology optimization of grating couplers for the efficient excitation of surface plasmons

Jacob Andkjær, Shinji Nishiwaki, Tsuyoshi Nomura, and Ole Sigmund
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 27(9) 1828-1832 (2010)

Topology optimization framework for designing efficient thermo-optical phase shifters

Beñat Martinez de Aguirre Jokisch, Rasmus Ellebæk Christiansen, and Ole Sigmund
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 41(2) A18-A31 (2024)

Compact and wideband multiport plasmonic coupler–splitter based on coding metamaterials

Shuai Yu, Zunwei Liu, Jian Dai, Tian Zhang, and Kun Xu
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 40(9) 2399-2406 (2023)

Design and optimization of the grating coupler in the 2 µm band

Anxin Wang, Shuxiao Wang, Shun Zhang, and Yan Cai
Appl. Opt. 62(5) 1369-1375 (2023)