INTRODUCTION TO

Wave Optics Module

Introduction to the Wave Optics Module
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Part number. CM023502

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The Use of the Wave Optics Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Wave Optics Module Physics Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Physics Interface Guide by Space Dimension and Study Type . . . 19
Tutorial Model: Directional Coupler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Model Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Results and Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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4|
Introduction

The Wave Optics Module is used by engineers and scientists to understand,

predict, and design electromagnetic wave propagation and resonance effects in
optical applications. Simulations of this kind result in more powerful and efficient
products and engineering methods. It allows its users to quickly and accurately
predict electromagnetic field distributions, transmission and reflection
coefficients, and power dissipation in a proposed design. Compared to traditional
prototyping, it offers the benefits of lower cost and the ability to evaluate and
predict entities that are not directly measurable in experiments. It also allows the
exploration of operating conditions that would destroy a real prototype or be
hazardous.
This module covers electromagnetic fields and waves in two-dimensional and
three-dimensional spaces. All modeling formulations are based on Maxwell’s
equations together with material laws for propagation in various media. The
modeling capabilities are accessed via predefined physics interfaces, collectively
referred to as Wave Optics interfaces, which allow you to set up and solve
electromagnetic models. The Wave Optics interfaces cover the modeling of
electromagnetic fields and waves in frequency domain, time domain,
eigenfrequency, and mode analysis.
Under the hood, the Wave Optics interfaces formulate and solve the differential
form of Maxwell’s equations together with the initial and boundary conditions.
The equations are solved using the finite element method and the boundary
element method with numerically stable edge element discretization in
combination with state-of-the-art algorithms for preconditioning and solution of
the resulting sparse equation systems. The results are presented using predefined
plots of electric and magnetic fields, reflectances, transmittances, diffraction
efficiencies, S-parameters, power flow, and dissipation. You can also display your
results as plots of expressions of the physical quantities that you define freely, or
as tabulated derived values obtained from the simulation.
The workflow is straightforward and can be described by the following steps:
define the geometry, select materials, select a suitable Wave Optics interface,
define boundary and initial conditions, define the mesh, select a solver, and
visualize the results. All these steps are accessed from the COMSOL Desktop. The
geometry can be built from basic geometric shapes or parts, like waveguide
elements, can be added from the Wave Optics Parts Library. Materials can have
user-defined properties or they can be picked from any of the built-in material
libraries, including the Optical Material Library. That library includes more than
a thousand inorganic and organic materials, glasses, and so on. The mesh creation

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and solver selection steps are usually carried out automatically using default
settings, which are tuned for each specific Wave Optics interface.
The Wave Optics Module application library describes the physics interfaces and
their different features through tutorial and benchmark examples for the different
formulations. The library includes examples addressing gratings and
metamaterials, laser cavities, nonlinear optics, optical scattering, waveguides and
couplers, and benchmark models for verification and validation of the Wave Optics
interfaces.
This introduction is intended to give you a jump start in your modeling work. It
has examples of the typical use of the Wave Optics Module, a list of the physics
interfaces with a short description, and a tutorial model that introduces the
modeling workflow.

The Use of the Wave Optics Module

The Wave Optics interfaces are used to model electromagnetic fields and waves in
optical applications. Typical wavelengths for optical applications are in the
nanometer to micrometer range, corresponding to frequencies of the order of
hundreds of THz. A characteristic of optical applications is also that the structures
are frequently much larger than the wavelength.
Wave Optics simulations are often used for determining propagation and coupling
properties for different types of waveguide structures. Figure 1 shows the electric
field distribution in a directional coupler. A wave is launched into the left
waveguide. The wave couples over to the right waveguide after 2 mm

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propagation. The waveguides consist of ion-bombarded GaAs, surrounded by
GaAs.

Figure 1: Electric field distribution in a directional coupler. Notice that the propagation length is 2 mm,
whereas the cross-sectional area is 12 μm by 18 μm. From Directional Coupler in the Wave Optics
Module application library.

Figure 2 shows an example of transient propagation in a nonlinear crystal. The

figure shows the total electric field, the sum of the incoming fundamental wave

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and the generated second harmonic wave, when the wave is located in the middle
of the crystal.

Figure 2: The z-component of the electric field after 61 fs propagation in a nonlinear crystal. From Second
Harmonic Generation of a Gaussian Beam in the Wave Optics Module application library.

Transient simulations are useful for modeling nonlinear optical processes

involving short optical pulses. Another example of nonlinear optical propagation
is the effect of self-focusing, as shown in Figure 3. Here, the Gaussian beam and

8|
the intensity-dependent refractive index form a self-induced lens in the material
that counteracts the spreading effect of diffraction.

Figure 3: The electric field distribution for a Gaussian beam propagating in a medium with an
intensity-dependent refractive index. From Self-Focusing in the Wave Optics Module application library.

In Figure 4 and Figure 5, a model from the Wave Optics Module application library
shows the scattering of an incoming plane wave by a small gold sphere. The model
is setup using the scattered field formulation, where the incoming plane wave is
entered as a background field. The scattered wave is absorbed by a Perfectly

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Matched Layer (PML). Figure 4 shows the volume resistive losses in the gold
sphere.

Figure 4: The volume resistive losses in a small gold sphere, when excited by an incoming plane wave.
From Optical Scattering Off a Gold Nanosphere in the Wave Optics Module application library.

10 |
A Far-Field Domain is used in the model to calculate the far-field pattern of the
scattered waves, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: The far-field radiation pattern in the E-plane (blue) and H-plane (green) when wavelength is
700 nm.

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The Wave Optics Module also offers a comprehensive set of features for 2D
modeling including both source driven wave propagation and mode analysis.
Figure 6 shows mode analysis of a microstructured optical fiber.

Figure 6: The surface plot visualizes the norm of the tangential and longitudinal electric and magnetic
fields for one of the two degenerate HE11-like modes for a holey fiber. From Leaky Modes in a
Microstructured Optical Fiber in the Wave Optics Module application library.

Both in 2D and 3D, the analysis of periodic structures is popular. Figure 7 is an

example of a plane wave incident on a metallic wire grating with a dielectric
substrate.

Figure 7: Electric field norm for TE incidence at π/5 radians. From Plasmonic Wire Grating in the Wave
Optics Module application library.

12 |
Figure 8 shows the resulting plot of the reflectances, transmittances and diffraction
efficiencies.

Figure 8: Reflectance, transmittance and diffraction efficiencies as a function of angle of incidence. From
Plasmonic Wire Grating in the Wave Optics Module application library.

Figure 9 shows an example of a polarization plot. The polarization plot shows the
state of polarization for different diffraction orders for a periodic structure. In this
example, the periodic structure is a hexagonal grating.

Figure 9: Polarization state plot, showing polarization ellipses for different diffraction orders for a periodic
structure. From Hexagonal Grating in the Wave Optics Module application library.

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Eigenfrequency studies are of interest for photonic bandgap structure and laser
cavity calculations. Figure 10 shows the mode field for a vertical-cavity
surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) after a self-consistent solution for the resonance
frequency and the threshold gain.

Figure 10: The mode field of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), for a self-consistent solution
of the resonance frequency and the threshold gain. From Threshold Gain Calculations for Vertical-Cavity
Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) in the Wave Optics Module application library.

The Wave Optics Module has a vast range of tools to evaluate and export the
results, for example, evaluation of far-field and scattering matrices (S-parameters).
S-parameters can be exported in the Touchstone file format.

14 |
The Wave Optics Module Physics Interfaces

The Wave Optics interfaces are based upon Maxwell’s equations together with
material laws. In the module, these laws of physics are translated by the Wave
Optics interfaces to sets of partial differential equations with corresponding initial
and boundary conditions.
The Wave Optics interfaces define a number of features. Each feature represents a
term or condition in the underlying Maxwell-based formulation and may be
defined in a geometric entity of the model, such as a domain, boundary, edge (for
3D components), or point.
Figure 11 uses the Plasmonic Wire Grating application from the Wave Optics
Module application library to show the Model Builder window and the Settings
window for the selected Wave Equation, Electric 1 feature node. The Wave
Equation, Electric 1 node adds terms representing the Helmholtz wave equation
to the model equations for, in this case, all domains in the model.
Furthermore, the Wave Equation, Electric 1 feature node may link to the
Materials feature node to obtain physical properties such as relative permittivity
and refractive index — in this case, the refractive index of a user-defined dielectric.
The properties, defined by the Dielectric material, can be functions of the modeled
physical quantities, such as temperature. Also the first material, Air, is in this case
a user-defined material, whereas the third material, the gold wire (labeled Au
(Rakic)), is taken from the Optical Material Library.
The simulation domain is delimited by boundary condition feature nodes. The
default boundary condition feature for the physics interfaces in the Wave Optics
Module is the Perfect Electric Conductor feature. For the example in Figure 11 the
Perfect Electric Conductor 1 feature node is overridden by two Port feature nodes
and a Periodic Condition feature node. The Port features are used for exciting and
absorbing waves and the Periodic Condition relates boundaries with periodicity

| 15
conditions (for instance continuity, antiperiodicity, and general Floquet phase
relationships).

Figure 11: The Model Builder (left), and the Settings window for Wave Equation, Electric (right). The
Equation section shows the model equations and the terms added by the Wave Equation, Electric 1 node
to the model equations. The added terms are underlined with a dotted line. The text also explains the
link between the Dielectric node and the values for the refractive index.

16 |
Figure 12 shows the Wave Optics interfaces, as displayed in the Model Wizard for
this module.

Figure 12: The Wave Optics Module physics interfaces as displayed in the Model Wizard.

This module includes Wave Optics interfaces ( ) for frequency-domain

modeling and time-domain modeling, respectively. It also includes the Laser
Heating interface, available under Heat Transfer. Also see Physics Interface Guide by
Space Dimension and Study Type.
With the addition of the Semiconductor Module license, you also get the
Semiconductor Optoelectronics, Beam Envelopes and The Semiconductor
Optoelectronics, Frequency Domain interfaces that model the interaction of
electromagnetic waves with semiconductors.
A brief overview of the Wave Optics interfaces follows.

E LECTROMAGNETIC W AVES, F REQUENCY D OMAIN

The Electromagnetic Waves, Frequency Domain interface ( ) solves a
frequency-domain wave equation for the electric field. The sources can be in the
form of point dipoles, line currents, or incident fields on boundaries or domains.
It is used primarily to model electromagnetic wave propagation in different media
and structures. Variants of the formulation solves an eigenvalue problem to find
the eigenfrequencies of a structure or, at a prescribed frequency, solves an
eigenvalue problem to find the propagating modes in waveguides and
transmission lines. Some typical applications that are simulated with the interface
are waveguides, gratings, and scattering from small particles.

E LECTROMAGNETIC W AVES, B EAM E NVELOPES

The Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes interface ( ) solves one or two
frequency-domain wave equations for the electric field envelope(s). The electric
field is represented as the product of the solved for electric field envelope and a
rapidly varying prescribed phase function. As the electric field envelopes has a
slower spatial variation than the electric field, a coarse mesh can be used. Thus, the
Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes interface is suitable for simulations of
optically large structures (structures that are much larger than the wavelength).

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The sources can be in the form of incident fields on boundaries, surface current,
electric or magnetic fields on boundaries. The interface can be used for
propagation problems at a fixed frequency and for finding eigenfrequencies in a
resonant structure. Some typical applications that are simulated with the interface
are waveguide structures, like directional couplers, nonlinear optical phenomena,
and laser beam propagation.

E LECTROMAGNETIC W AVES, B OUNDARY E LEMENTS

The Electromagnetic Waves, Boundary Elements interface ( ) solves a
frequency-domain wave equation for the electric field. The formulation is based
on the boundary element method (BEM) and requires the availability of a Green’s
function. Thus, the physics interface solves the vector Helmholtz equation for
piecewise-constant material properties.
The interface is fully multiphysics enabled and can be coupled seamlessly with the
physics interfaces that are based on the finite element method (FEM). This
approach allows modeling in a FEM-BEM framework, using the strength of each
formulation adequately. The BEM-based interface is especially well suited for
radiation and scattering problems.
The advantage of the boundary element method is that only boundaries need to
be meshed and the degrees of freedom (DOFs) solved for are restricted to the
boundaries.

E LECTROMAGNETIC W AVES, T IME E XPLICIT

The Electromagnetic Waves, Time Explicit interface ( ) solves a system of two
first-order partial differential equations (Faraday’s law and Maxwell-Ampère’s law)
for the electric and magnetic fields using the Time Explicit Discontinuous
Galerkin method. The sources can be in the form of volumetric electric or
magnetic currents or electric surface currents or fields on boundaries. It is used
primarily to model electromagnetic wave propagation in linear media. Typical
applications involve the transient propagation of electromagnetic pulses.

E LECTROMAGNETIC W AVES, T RANSIENT

The Electromagnetic Waves, Transient interface ( ) solves a time-domain wave
equation for the electric field. The sources can be in the form of point dipoles, line
currents, or incident fields on boundaries or domains. It is used primarily to model
electromagnetic wave propagation in different media and structures when a
time-domain solution is required — for example, for non-sinusoidal waveforms or
for nonlinear media. Typical applications involve the propagation of
electromagnetic pulses and the generation of harmonics in nonlinear optical
media.

18 |
E LECTROMAGNETIC W AVES, FEM-BEM
The Electromagnetic Waves, FEM-BEM multiphysics interface ( ) allows to
build hybrid FEM-BEM models, where the boundary element method (BEM) is
used to compute the electric fields outside the finite element method (FEM)
domains. This multiphysics interface adds an Electromagnetic Waves, Frequency
Domain interface and an Electromagnetic Waves, Boundary Elements interface.
The multiphysics coupling assures continuity of the tangential electric and
magnetic fields across boundaries between the two interfaces.
Frequency-domain modeling is supported in 2D and 3D.

L ASER H EATING
The Laser Heating interface ( ) is used to model electromagnetic heating for
systems and devices where the electric field amplitude varies slowly on a
wavelength scale. This multiphysics interface adds an Electromagnetic Waves,
Beam Envelopes interface and a Heat Transfer in Solids interface. The
multiphysics couplings add the electromagnetic losses from the electromagnetic
waves as a heat source, and the electromagnetic material properties can depend on
the temperature. The modeling approach is based on the assumption that the
electromagnetic cycle time is short compared to the thermal time scale.
Combinations of frequency-domain modeling for the Electromagnetic Waves,
Beam Envelopes interface and stationary modeling for the Heat Transfer in Solids
interface, called frequency-stationary and, similarly, frequency-transient modeling,
are supported in 2D and 3D.

Physics Interface Guide by Space Dimension and Study Type

The table below list the physics interfaces available specifically with this module in
addition to the COMSOL Multiphysics basic license.

PHYSICS INTERFACE ICON TAG SPACE AVAILABLE STUDY TYPE

DIMENSION

Heat Transfer

Electromagnetic Heating

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PHYSICS INTERFACE ICON TAG SPACE AVAILABLE STUDY TYPE
DIMENSION

Laser Heating1 — 3D, 2D, 2D frequency-stationary;

axisymmetric frequency-transient;
frequency-stationary,
one-way electromagnetic
heating; frequency-transient,
one-way electromagnetic
heating
Optics

Wave Optics

Electromagnetic Waves, ewbe 3D, 2D, 2D adaptive frequency sweep;

Beam Envelopes axisymmetric boundary mode analysis;
eigenfrequency; frequency
domain; frequency domain,
modal; wavelength domain;
frequency domain source
sweep
Electromagnetic Waves, ebem 3D, 2D frequency domain;
Boundary Elements wavelength domain
Electromagnetic Waves, ewfd 3D, 2D, 2D adaptive frequency sweep;
Frequency Domain axisymmetric boundary mode analysis;
eigenfrequency; frequency
domain; frequency domain,
modal; mode analysis (2D
and 2D axisymmetric
models only); wavelength
domain; frequency domain
source sweep
Electromagnetic Waves, teew 3D, 2D, 2D time dependent; time
Time Explicit axisymmetric dependent with FFT
Electromagnetic Waves, ewt 3D, 2D, 2D eigenfrequency; time
Transient axisymmetric dependent; time dependent,
modal, time dependent with
FFT
Electromagnetic Waves, 3D, 2D frequency domain,
FEM-BEM1 wavelength domain
1
This physics interface is a predefined multiphysics coupling that automatically adds all the
physics interfaces and coupling features required.

20 |
| 21
Tutorial Model: Directional Coupler

Introduction
Directional couplers are used for coupling a light wave from one waveguide to
another waveguide. By controlling the refractive index in the two waveguides (for
instance, by heating or current injection), it is possible to control the amount of
coupling between the waveguides.

Port 1 and Port 2

Port 3 and Port 4

Cores

Cladding

Figure 13: Schematic drawing of the waveguide structure. The structure consists of the two waveguide
cores and the surrounding cladding. Port 1 and 2 are used for exciting the waveguides and Port 3 and 4
absorb the waves. Notice that the waveguide structure is not drawn to scale. The length of the
waveguides is around 2 mm, whereas the waveguide cross section is square with a side length of 3 μm.
The waveguide separation is 3 μm.

Light that propagates through a dielectric waveguide has most of the power
concentrated within the central core of the waveguide. Outside the waveguide
core, in the cladding, the electric field decays exponentially with the distance from
the core. However, if you put another waveguide core close to the first waveguide
(see Figure 14), that second waveguide will perturb the mode of the first
waveguide (and vice versa). Thus, instead of having two modes with the same
effective index, one localized in the first waveguide and the second mode in the
second waveguide, the modes and their respective effective indices split and you
get a symmetric supermode (see Figure 14 and Figure 16 below), with an effective
index that is slightly larger than the effective index of the unperturbed waveguide

22 |
mode, and an antisymmetric supermode (see Figure 15 and Figure 17), with an
effective index that is slightly lower than the effective index of the unperturbed
waveguide mode.
Since the supermodes are the solution to the wave equation, if you excite one of
them, it will propagate unperturbed through the waveguide. However, if you
excite both the symmetric and the antisymmetric mode, that have different
propagation constants, there will be a beating between these two waves. Thus, you
will see that the power fluctuates back and forth between the two waveguides, as
the waves propagate through the waveguide structure. You can adjust the length
of the waveguide structure to get coupling from one waveguide to the other
waveguide. By adjusting the phase difference between the fields of the two
supermodes, you can decide which waveguide that initially will be excited.

Model Definition
The directional coupler, as shown in Figure 13, consists of two waveguide cores
embedded in a cladding material. The cladding material is GaAs, with
ion-implanted GaAs for the waveguide cores. The structure is modeled after Ref. 1.
The core cross section is square, with a side length of 3 μm. The two waveguides
are separated 3 μm. The length of the waveguide structure is 2 mm. Thus, given
the narrow cross section compared to the length, it is advantageous to use a view
that does not preserve the aspect ratio for the geometry.
For this kind of problem, where the propagation length is much longer than the
wavelength, the Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes interface is particularly
suitable, as the mesh does not need to resolve the wave on a wavelength scale, but
rather the beating between the two waves.
The model is set up to factor out the fast phase variation that occurs in
synchronism with the first mode. Mathematically, we write the total electric field
as the sum of the electric fields of the two modes,
E ( r ) = E 1 exp ( – jβ 1 x ) + E 2 exp ( – jβ 2 x )
= [ E 1 + E 2 exp ( – j ( β 2 – β 1 )x ) ] exp ( – jβ 1 x )

The expression within the square parentheses is what will be solved for. It will have
a beat length L defined by
( β 2 – β 1 )L = 2π

or
2π
L = ------------------ .
β2 – β1

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In the simulation, this beat length must be well resolved. Since the waveguide
length is half of the beat length and the waveguide length is discretized into 20
subdivisions, the beat length will be very well resolved in the model.
The model uses two numeric ports per input and exit boundary (see Figure 13).
The two ports define the lowest symmetric and antisymmetric modes of the
waveguide structure.
In the second part of the modeling procedure, the bidirectional formulation is
used. In this case, the two wave vectors are codirectional — they point in the same
direction. However, the magnitude of the wave vectors are given by the
propagation constants of the two beating modes. Thus, you expect the two waves
to have almost constant amplitudes, so the mesh can be very coarse in the
propagation direction.
A problem with the first two procedures is that the numerical procedure returns
mode fields with an arbitrary phase. Thus, when you superpose the two input port
modes, the result can be different on different computers. In the last part of the
modeling procedure, it is shown how you can form a summation of the mode
fields, with expansion coefficients that are calculated to minimize the difference
between the summed mode fields and a target field. Thereby, independently of the
mode field phases, the resulting superposition will be stable.
The summation of the two input port mode fields should approximate the target
field, as expressed in
2

E T, t arg et =  ci ET0, i , (1)

i=1

where ET,target is the tangential target electric field and ci and ET0,i are the
expansion coefficients and the tangential non-normalized electric mode fields for
mode i, respectively. Taking the cross product with the complex conjugate of the
tangential magnetic mode field for mode j, multiplying with the port normal and
integrating over the port boundary, we get
2
ˆ dS = ˆ
 ( E T, t arg et × H∗ T0, j ) ⋅ n  ci  ( ET0, i × H∗T0, j ) ⋅ n dS = 2c j P j , (2)
A i=1 A

where Pj is the mode power for mode j. Thus, the expansion coefficients are given
by the overlap integral
1 ˆ dS .
2P i 
c i = --------- ( E T, t arg et × H∗ T0, i ) ⋅ n (3)
A

COMSOL defines the normalized mode field as

24 |
 iθ in, i
E T, i = E T0, i P in, i ⁄ P i e , (4)

where Pin,i is the specified input power for mode i and θin,i is the corresponding
specified mode phase.
Comparing Equation 1, Equation 3, and Equation 4, we can deduce that
iθ in, i
ci = P in, i ⁄ P i e (5)

or
1 ˆ dS 2

2
P in, i = c i P i = ------------ ( E T, t arg et × H∗ T0, i ) ⋅ n (6)
4 Pi
A

and
1 ˆ dS .
 Pi 
θ in, i = arg ( c i ) = arg  ----- ( E T, t arg et × H∗ T0, i ) ⋅ n 

(7)
A

Equation 6 and Equation 7 can now be used for specifying the input power and
mode phase for the two exciting ports.

Results and Discussion

Figure 14 to Figure 17 show the results of the initial boundary mode analysis. The
first two modes (those with the largest effective mode index) are both symmetric.
Figure 14 shows the first mode. This mode has the transverse polarization

| 25
component along the z direction. The second mode, shown in Figure 16, has
transverse polarization along the y direction.

Figure 14: The symmetric mode for z-polarization. Notice that the returned solution can also show the
electric field as positive values in the peaks at the cores.

Figure 15: The antisymmetric mode for z-polarization.

26 |
Figure 15 and Figure 17 show the antisymmetric modes. Those have effective
indices that are slightly smaller than those of the symmetric modes. Figure 15
shows the mode for z-polarization and Figure 17 shows the mode for
y-polarization.

Figure 16: The symmetric mode for y-polarization. Notice that the returned solution can also show the
electric field as positive values in the peaks at the cores.

Figure 17: The antisymmetric mode for y-polarization.

| 27
Figure 18 shows how the electric field increases in the receiving waveguide and
decreases in the exciting waveguide. If the waveguide had been longer, the waves
would switch back and forth between the waveguides.

Figure 18: Excitation of the symmetric and the antisymmetric modes. The wave couples from the input
waveguide to the output waveguide. Notice that your result may show that the wave is excited in the
other waveguide core, if your mode fields have different signs than what is displayed in Figure 14 to
Figure 17.

28 |
Figure 19 shows the result, when there is a π phase difference between the fields of
the exciting ports. In this case, the superposition of the two modes results in
excitation of the other waveguides (as compared to the case in Figure 18).

Figure 19: The same excitation conditions as in Figure 18, except that there is a phase difference
between the two ports of π radians. Notice that your result may show that the wave is excited in the
other waveguide core, if your mode fields have different signs than what is displayed in Figure 14 to
Figure 17.

Figure 20 and Figure 21 display the amplitudes of the first and second wave,
respectively, when the bidirectional formulation is used. As expected, the
amplitudes are almost constant.

| 29
Figure 20: The amplitude of the first wave, when the bidirectional formulation is used

30 |
.

Figure 21: The amplitude of the second wave, when the bidirectional formulation is used.

Figure 22 shows that the input field approximates the square target field, centered
on the left waveguide, when the input power and the mode phase for the two

| 31
exciting ports are calculated using an overlap integral between the target field and
the mode field (c.f. Equation 6 and Equation 7).

Figure 22: The red square with amplitude 1 V/m represents the target function. This target function has
an amplitude of1 V/m in the left waveguide core and 0 V/m everywhere else. The total input field is
shown to be localized in the left waveguide, as expected, with an amplitude that approaches the target
amplitude.

Reference
1. S. Somekh, E. Garmire, A. Yariv, H.L. Garvin, and R.G. Hunsperger, “Channel
Optical Waveguides and Directional Couplers in GaAs-Imbedded and Ridged,”
Applied Optics , vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 327–30, 1974.

Model Wizard

These step-by-step instructions guide you through the design and modeling of the
directional coupler in 3D. First the simple geometry and the materials are defined.
Then the lowest-order modes are determined. Those modes (the symmetric and
the antisymmetric modes combined) are then used to excite the waveguide
structure. In the next step, it is shown how you can change the sign of one of the
modes to excite the other waveguide. Next, the bidirectional formulation for the
Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes is used to model the two beating modes.

32 |
Since, in this case, each mode will have a constant amplitude when propagating
along the waveguide, a much coarser mesh can be used. The last part of the model
demonstrates how to use the port input power and mode phase to approximate a
given input target field.
Note: These instructions are for the user interface on Windows but apply, with
minor differences, also to Linux and Mac.
1 To start the software, double-click the COMSOL icon on the desktop. When
the software opens, you can choose to use the Model Wizard to create a new
COMSOL model or Blank Model to create one manually. For this tutorial, click
the Model Wizard button.
If COMSOL is already open, you can start the Model Wizard by selecting
New from the File menu and then click Model Wizard .
The Model Wizard guides you through the first steps of setting up a model. The
next window lets you select the dimension of the modeling space.
2 In the Select Space Dimension window click 3D .
3 In the Select Physics tree under Optics>Wave Optics, click Electromagnetic
Waves, Beam Envelopes (ewbe) .
4 Click Add and then click Study .
5 In the Studies tree under Preset Studies for Selected Physics Interfaces, click
Boundary Mode Analysis .
6 Click Done .

Global Definitions - Parameters

First, define a set of parameters for creating the geometry and defining the material
parameters.
1 On the Home toolbar click Parameters and select Parameters 1 .
Note: On Linux and Mac, the Home toolbar refers to the specific set of controls
near the top of the Desktop.

| 33
2 In the Settings window for Parameters enter these settings in the Parameters
table.

Geometry 1

In section Global Definitions - Parameters the parameters for the geometry were
defined. Using a parameterized geometry, it is easy to experiment with different
dimensions for your waveguide structure.
To build the geometry, start by defining the simulation domain and then add the
two embedded waveguides.

34 |
Block 1
1 On the Geometry toolbar click Block
.
2 Go to the Settings window for Block.
Under the Size and Shape section in
the:
- Width text field enter len.
- Depth text field enter width.
- Height text field enter height
3 Under Position choose Center from
the Base list.

Block 2
Now add the first embedded waveguide.
1 On the Geometry toolbar click Block
.
2 Go to the Settings window for Block.
Under the Size and Shape section in
the:
- Width text field enter len.
- Depth text field enter a.
- Height text field enter a.
3 Under Position choose Center from
the Base list.
4 In the y text field enter -d.

Block 3
Add the second waveguide by
duplicating the first waveguide and
modifying the position.
1 Right-click Block 2 and choose
Duplicate .

| 35
2 Go to the Settings window for Block. In the Position section in the y text field
enter d.

3 Click the Build All Objects button .

36 |
Definitions

Since the geometry is so long and narrow, it is better to change the aspect ratio in
the view.
1 In the Model Builder expand the Component 1>Definitions>View 1 node ,
then click Camera .
2 Go to the Settings window for Camera. In the Camera section, choose
Automatic from the View scale list, Anisotropic from the Automatic list, and
select the Automatic update check box.
3 Click the Update button at the top of the Camera settings.
4 Click the Zoom Extents button in the Graphics window toolbar to produce
the figure below.

Mate rials

Now, add materials for the cladding and the core of the waveguides. First add the
waveguide cladding material. By default, the first material will be assigned to all
domains. In the second step, you will define the waveguide core material.
For this waveguide structure, GaAs is used as cladding material and ion-implanted
GaAs is used as core material.

| 37
Material 1
1 From the Materials toolbar click Blank Material .
2 Go to the Settings window for Material. Type GaAs Cladding in the Label text
field.

3 Under the Material Contents section enter the following settings in the table:

The Stop signs, initially shown, disappear when you enter values into the Value
fields.

Material 2
1 From the Materials toolbar click Blank Material .
2 Go the Settings window for Material. Type Implanted GaAs Core in the Label
text field.

3 Select only the waveguide cores, domains 2 and 3.

38 |
4 Under the Material Contents section enter the following settings in the table:

Ele c tr omag netic Wa ve s, B ea m Envelope s

For many simulation problems you have some boundaries between different
materials that create reflected waves propagating in the backward direction. Thus,
the default setting for the Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes interface is to
do bidirectional simulations.
However, for the directional coupler problem, we do not expect any reflected
waves. So it is best to select unidirectional propagation in this case.
As will be demonstrated in the second part of this tutorial, the bidirectional
formulation can also be used for solving for two modes propagating in the same
direction. This configuration will further reduce the requirement on the mesh size.
Since both unidirectional and bidirectional studies will be performed, we will
create different physics interfaces, mesh nodes and study nodes for the different
studies.
1 On the Home toolbar select Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes .
2 In the Settings window for Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes, change
the Label text field to Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes,
Unidirectional.
3 In the Settings window under the Wave Vectors section, choose Unidirectional
from the Number of directions list.

| 39
4 Enter ewbe.beta_1 in the x text field of the k1 table, as shown in the figure.

This sets the wave vector to be that of the lowest waveguide mode. With this
wave vector setting, the phase factor of the electric field perfectly matches the
lowest mode, but it is slightly mismatched to the also excited higher-order
mode, as discussed in the Model Definition section.
The expression ewbe.beta_1 is colored orange, as a warning that this variable
has not yet been defined. We will define it, when adding the first port below.

Port 1
To excite the wave at the input boundary and to absorb the wave at the output
boundary, two numeric ports per boundary are used. The first two ports excite the
waveguides.
Each numeric port has a Boundary Mode Analysis study step associated with it.
The Boundary Mode Analysis study performs an Eigenvalue study to find the
mode fields and the propagation constant associated to the port. The Boundary
Mode Analysis steps will be defined first for Port 1 in section Study 1 and later for
the remaining ports in section Study, Unidirectional.
1 On the Physics toolbar click Boundaries and choose Port .

40 |
2 Select Boundaries 1, 5, and 10,
as shown in the figure to the
right.
3 Go to the Settings window for
Port. In the Port Properties
section choose Numeric from
the Type of port list.
Since this is the first added Port,
the Wave excitation at this port list
is automatically set to On.
Now duplicate the first port.

Port 2
1 Right-click Port 1 and
choose Duplicate .
Next, create the absorbing ports at the other end of the waveguide structure.

Port 3
1 On the Physics toolbar click Boundaries and choose Port .
2 Select Boundaries 16–18 only, as
shown in the figure to the right.
3 Go to the Settings window for Port.
In the Port Properties section choose
Numeric from the Type of port list.
Duplicate this port.

Port 4
1 Right-click Port 3 and choose
Duplicate .

Me sh

By default, the Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes interface will suggest a

physics-controlled swept mesh, consisting of ten mesh elements per transverse
dimension and ten mesh elements in the longitudinal direction (the propagation
direction). To sufficiently resolve the modes and the mode coupling, 20 mesh
elements will be used in this model for both the transverse and longitudinal
dimensions.

| 41
1 On the Home toolbar, select Mesh 1
.
2 In the Settings window for Mesh,
change the Label text field to Mesh,
Unidirectional.
3 Go to the Electromagnetic Waves, Beam
Envelopes, Unidirectional section and
enter 20 in the Number of transverse
mesh elements field.
4 Enter 20 in the Number of longitudinal
mesh elements field.
5 In the settings for the Mesh node, click
the Build All button .

42 |
Study 1

For this model, special plots are

generated. Start by clearing the check
box for the generation of the default
plots.
1 In the Model Builder click Study 1
.
2 In the Settings window for Study,
change the Label text field to Study,
Unidirectional.
3 In the Settings window for Study
locate the Study Settings section and
clear the Generate default plots check box.

Step 1: Boundary Mode Analysis

Now analyze the four lowest modes. The first two modes will be symmetric. Since
the waveguide cross section is square, there will be one mode polarized in the
z direction and one mode polarized in the y direction. Mode three and four will
be antisymmetric, one polarized in the z direction and the other in the y direction.
1 In the Model Builder under Study, Unidirectional , click Step 1: Boundary
Mode Analysis .
2 In the Settings window for
Boundary Mode Analysis
locate the Study Settings
section, mark the check box
for the Desired number of
modes text field and enter 4 in
the associated text field. This
finds the four lowest modes.
3 In the Search for modes
around setting, mark the
check box and enter nco in
the associated text field, to
search for the modes with
effective index close to that of
the waveguide cores.
4 In the Mode analysis
frequency text field enter f0.

| 43
5 To compute only the boundary mode analysis step, right-click Step 1: Boundary
Mode Analysis and choose Compute Selected Step .

Results

Create a 3D surface plot to view the different modes.

3D Plot Group 1
1 On the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and select 3D Plot Group .
2 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, change the Label text field to
Electric Field, Unidirectional.
3 On the Electric Field, Unidirectional toolbar, select Surface .
Now, first look at the modes polarized in the z direction.
4 In the Settings window for Surface click Replace Expression in the
upper-right corner of the Expression section. From the menu, navigate to and
select the variable Model>Component 1>Electromagnetic Waves, Beam
Envelopes, Unidirectional>Boundary mode analysis>Boundary mode electric
field - V/m>ewbe.tEbm1z - Boundary mode electric field, z-component.

5 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Color table list, choose
WaveLight.
6 In the Model Builder click Electric Field, Unidirectional .

44 |
7 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group locate the Data section. From the
Effective mode index list, choose the largest effective index. This is the last value
in the list. Since the modes are pairwise (almost) degenerate, the value to pick
is 3.4717.
8 Click the Plot button . The plot below shows the symmetric mode polarized
in the z direction (same as Figure 14 in Results and Discussion).

Notice that your plot may look different from the plot above, as the plot shows
the real part of the boundary mode electric field. The computed complex
electric field can have a different phase factor than for the plot above. Thus, the
field can either show minima (a blue color) or maxima (a red color) at the
locations for the waveguide cores. However, since this is a symmetric mode, it
will have the same field values for both waveguide cores.
Another consequence of the arbitrary phase factor is that the magnitude for the
displayed real part of the electric field in your plot can be different from what is
shown in the plot above.
When adding two mode fields having arbitrary phases, the resulting
superposition field will, of course, also have a random shape. To remove this
arbitrariness, later, in the last part of this example model, the Port input power
and the Mode phase parameters for the exciting ports will be used to control
that the superposition field will approximate a target field.

| 45
9 From the Effective mode index list, choose the third largest effective index. This
is the second value in the list (3.4714).
10Click the Plot button. The plot below shows the anti-symmetric mode
polarized in the z direction (same as Figure 15 in Results and Discussion).

11In the Model Builder under Electric Field, Unidirectional, click Surface 1 .
12From the Settings window for Surface locate the Expression section and enter
ewbe.tEbm1y in the Expression text field, to plot the mode field polarized in
the y direction.
13In the Model Builder click Electric Field, Unidirectional .
14In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group locate the Data section. From the
Effective mode index list, choose the second largest effective index. This is the
third value in the list (3.4717).

46 |
15Click the Plot button . The plot below shows the symmetric mode polarized
in the y direction (same as Figure 16 in Results and Discussion).

16From the Effective mode index list, choose the smallest effective index (the first
value in the list, 3.4714)

| 47
17Click the Plot button . The plot below shows the anti-symmetric mode
polarized in the y direction (same as Figure 17 in Results and Discussion).

Derived Values
You will need to copy the effective indices for the different modes and use them
in the boundary mode analyses for the different ports.
1 On the Results toolbar select Global Evaluation .
2 Locate the Expressions section, in the Settings window for Global Evaluation
and enter ewbe.beta_1 in the Expression cell for the first table row. The
variable ewbe.beta_1 is the propagation constant related to the first port.
3 Click the Evaluate button .
Now, copy all information in the table to the clipboard. Then paste that
information into your favorite text editor, so you easily can enter the values later
in the boundary mode analysis steps.

48 |
4 In the Table window click Full Precision .

5 In the Table window, click Copy Table and Headers to Clipboard .

6 Paste the contents of the clipboard into your text editor, for later reference.

Study, Unidirectional

Step 1: Boundary Mode Analysis

1 In the Model Builder under Study, Unidirectional , click Step 1: Boundary
Mode Analysis .
2 Go to the Settings window for Boundary Mode Analysis locate the Study
Settings section and enter 1 in the Desired number of modes text field.
3 In the Search for modes around text field enter the largest effective mode index,
3.4716716315032126. You can select the value in your text editor and then
copy and paste it here. The last figures could be different from what is written
here.

Step 3: Boundary Mode Analysis 1

1 Right-click Step 1: Boundary Mode Analysis and choose Duplicate .
2 In the Settings window for Boundary Mode Analysis locate the Study Settings
section. In the Search for modes around text field enter (or copy and paste)
3.4714218110358384. This should be the third largest effective index. The last
figures could be different from what is written here.
3 Enter 2 in the Port name text field.

Step 4: Boundary Mode Analysis 2

1 Select the two boundary mode analyses, Step 1: Boundary Mode Analysis
and Step 3: Boundary Mode Analysis 3 .
2 In the Model Builder right-click Step 1: Boundary Mode Analysis and
choose Duplicate .

| 49
3 For the node Step 4: Boundary Mode Analysis 2 , go to the Settings window
for Boundary Mode Analysis locate the Study Settings section and enter 3 in the
Port name text field.

Step 5: Boundary Mode Analysis 3

1 In the Model Builder under Study, Unidirectional , click Step 5: Boundary
Mode Analysis 3 .
2 Go to the Settings window for Boundary Mode Analysis locate the Study
Settings section and enter 4 in the Port name text field.

Step 2: Frequency Domain

1 In the Model Builder under Study, Unidirectional , click Step 2: Frequency
Domain .
2 Go to the Settings window for Frequency Domain locate the Study Settings
section and enter f0 in the Frequencies text field.
3 Finally, move Step2: Frequency Domain to be the last study step, by
right-clicking Step 2: Frequency Domain and choose Move Down
(three times) or by dragging Step2: Frequency Domain to the last study
step. After the move, the study sequence should look like this sequence:.

4 Right-click Study, Unidirectional and choose Compute .

Results

Electric Field, Unidirectional

Remove the surface plot and replace it with a slice plot of the norm of the electric
field.
1 In the Model Builder under Electric Field, Unidirectional, right-click
Surface 1 and choose Delete . Click Yes in the Confirm Delete dialog.
2 On the Electric Field, Unidirectional toolbar select Slice .
3 From the Settings window for Slice locate the Plane Data section and from the
Plane list, choose XY-planes.

50 |
4 In the Planes text field enter 1.
5 Click to expand the Quality section. From the Smoothing list select
Everywhere. This will make the plot smooth across the core-cladding interfaces.
6 Right-click Slice 1 and choose Deformation .
7 In the Settings window for Deformation locate the Expression section and in
the z-component text field enter ewbe.normE.
8 Click the Plot button and click the Zoom Extents button on the
Graphics toolbar to make the plot fit the Graphics window. The plot below
shows how the light couples from the excited waveguide to the unexcited one
(same as Figure 18 in Results and Discussion).

Ele c tr omag netic Wa ve s, B ea m Envelope s,

Unidirectional

Port 2
To excite the other waveguide, set the phase difference between the exciting ports
to π.

| 51
1 In the Model Builder under Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes,
Unidirectional , click Port 2 .
2 In the Settings window for Port locate the Port Mode Settings section and enter
pi in the Mode phase (θin) text field.

Study, Unidirectional

On the Home toolbar, select Compute .

52 |
Results

Electric Field, Unidirectional

Now the other waveguide is excited and the coupling occurs in reverse direction,
compared to the previous case. The figure below reproduces Figure 19 in Results
and Discussion.

Ele c tr omag netic Wa ve s, B ea m Envelope s,

Unidirectional

In this part, we copy the Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes physics

interface to make a bidirectional simulation, where the two wave vectors are
codirectional but use the propagation constants of the two beating modes. In this
case, each wave will have an almost constant amplitude, so a very coarse mesh can
be used in the propagation direction.

| 53
1 In the Model Builder window,
under Component 1 right-click
Electromagnetic Waves, Beam
Envelopes and choose
Copy .
2 In the Model Builder window,
right-click Component 1
and choose Paste
Electromagnetic Waves, Beam
Envelopes .
3 In the Message from Paste
dialog that appears, click the
OK button to close the dialog
window.
4 In the Settings window for
Electromagnetic Waves, Beam
Envelopes, Unidirectional 1,
change the Label text field to
Electromagnetic Waves,
Beam Envelopes,
Bidirectional.
5 In the Settings window for
Electromagnetic Waves, Beam
Envelopes, locate the Wave
Vectors section.
6 From the Number of directions
list, choose Bidirectional.
7 Enter ewbe2.beta_1 and ewbe2.beta_2 in the x text fields of the k1 and k2
tables, respectively, as shown in the figure above. As ewbe2.k1y and
ewbe2.k1z evaluate to zero, the second wave vector points in the x-direction
and has a magnitude of ewbe2.beta_2.

M e s h , U n id i r e c t i o n a l

In this simulation, each wave will have an almost constant amplitude, so a very
coarse mesh can be used in the propagation direction. Add a second mesh for this
case, but first make sure that the newly added physics interface (ewbe2) does not
contribute to the specification of the first mesh, Mesh, Unidirectional. If it does,
it cannot have different parameters when specifying another mesh.

54 |
1 In the Model Builder window under Component 1 click Mesh, Unidirectional.
2 In the Settings window for the Mesh, locate the Physics-Controlled Mesh
section.
3 In the table, clear the Use check box for the Electromagnetic Waves, Beam
Envelopes, Bidirectional interface.

M e s h , B id i r e c t i o n a l

1 In the Mesh toolbar, click Add Mesh .

2 In the Settings window for Mesh, type Mesh, Bidirectional in the Label text
field.

3 In the Physics-Controlled Mesh section, clear the Use check box for
Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes, Unidirectional.
4 Locate the Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes, Bidirectional section. In
the NL text field, type 5, as shown above.

| 55
5 In the settings for the Mesh node, click the Build All button .

Add Study

1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Study

to open the Add Study window.
2 Go to the Add Study window. Find the
Studies subsection and select Empty
Study.
3 Click Add Study in the window
toolbar.

Study 2

1 In the Settings window for Study, change the Label text field to Study,
Bidirectional.
2 Locate the Study Settings section. Clear the Generate default plots check box.
3 In the Home toolbar, click Add Study to close the Add Study window.

56 |
4 In the Model Builder window, under Study, Unidirectional , Ctrl-click to
select
Step 1: Boundary Mode Analysis , Step 2: Boundary Mode Analysis 1 , Step
3: Boundary Mode Analysis 2 , Step 4: Boundary Mode Analysis 3 , and
Step 5: Frequency Domain .
5 Right-click and choose Copy .
6 In the Model Builder window, right-click Study, Bidirectional and choose
Paste Multiple Items .

S TEP 1: B OUNDARY M ODE A NALYSIS

1 In the Model Builder window, under Study, Bidirectional , select Step 1:
Boundary Mode Analysis .
2 In the Settings window for Boundary Mode Analysis, locate the Physics and
Variables Selection section. In the table, clear the Solve for check box for
Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes, Unidirectional.

3 Click to expand the Mesh Selection

section. In the table, select Mesh,
Bidirectional.
4 Repeat step 2 and 3 above for Step
2: Boundary Mode Analysis 1 ,
Step 3: Boundary Mode Analysis 2 , Step 4: Boundary Mode Analysis 3 ,
and Step 5: Frequency Domain .
5 On the Home toolbar, click Compute .

Results

E LECTRIC F IELD, U NIDIRECTIONAL

1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Electric Field, Unidirectional and
choose Duplicate .
2 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, type Electric Field,
Bidirectional in the Label text field.

| 57
3 Locate the Data section. From the Dataset list, choose Study, Bidirectional/
Solution 6.

S LICE 1
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Results>Electric Field, Bidirectional
node, then click Slice 1 .
2 In the Settings window for Slice, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type ewbe2.normE.

D EFORMATION 1
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Slice 1 node, then click Deformation
1 .
2 In the Settings window for Deformation, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Z-component text field, type ewbe2.normE.
4 In the Electric Field, Bidirectional toolbar, click Plot . In the Graphics
window toolbar, click Zoom Extents .

The resulting plot should look similar to Figure 19.

58 |
3D P LOT G ROUP 3
Now, add a plot to verify that the field amplitudes indeed are constant.
1 On the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and select 3D Plot Group .
2 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, type Electric Field
Amplitude, Bidirectional in the Label text field.
3 Locate the Data section. From the Dataset list, choose Study, Bidirectional/
Solution 6

S LICE 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Electric Field Amplitude,
Bidirectional and choose Slice .
2 In the Settings window for Slice, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type ewbe2.normE1.
4 Locate the Plane Data section. From the Plane list, choose XY-planes.
5 In the Planes text field, type 1.
6 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Color table list, choose
RainbowLight.
7 In the Electric Field Amplitude, Bidirectional toolbar, click the Plot button .
8 Click the Zoom Extents button to produce the figure below.

| 59
9 Locate the Expression section. In the Expression text field, type ewbe.normE2.
10In the Electric Field Amplitude, Bidirectional toolbar, click the Plot button .
The plots confirm that the amplitudes indeed are constant along the
propagation direction.

Component 1

The following instructions demonstrate how to define the excited port power and
mode phase parameters to approximate a target input field.

Definitions

V ARIABLES 1
1 In the Model Builder window, select the Component 1 >Definitions node .
2 Right-click Definitions and choose Variables , to define the target field
in the cladding and in the right waveguide core.

60 |
3 In the Settings window for Variables, locate the Geometric Entity Selection
section. From the Geometric entity level list, choose Boundary. Select
Boundaries 1 and 5 only.

| 61
4 Locate the Variables section. In the table, enter the following settings:

Now, define the target field in the left waveguide core.

V ARIABLES 2
1 Right-click Variables 1 and choose Duplicate .
2 In the Settings window for Variables, locate the Geometric Entity Selection
section.
3 Click Clear Selection .

62 |
4 Select Boundary 10 only.

5 Locate the Variables section. In the table, enter the following settings:

I NTEGRATION 1
1 In the Definitions toolbar, click Nonlocal Couplings and choose Integration
, to define the integration operator that will be used for computing overlap
integrals between the target field and the mode fields.
2 In the Settings window for Integration, locate the Source Selection section.
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Boundary.

| 63
4 Select Boundaries 1, 5, and 10.

Ele c tr omag netic Waves , Bea m En vel o p es, B i d i r ec t i o n a l

Copy the second Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes physics interface.

1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 right-click Electromagnetic
Waves, Beam Envelopes, Bidirectional and choose Copy .

Ele c tr omag netic Waves , Be am E n v e l o p e s , B i d i r e c t i o n a l

1

1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Component 1 and choose Paste

Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes .
2 In the Messages from Paste dialog box, click OK.
3 In the Settings window for Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes, type
Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes, Bidirectional, Mode
Expansion in the Label text field.

64 |
Definitions

V ARIABLES 3
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 right-click Definitions
and choose Variables , to define expressions for the excited port input
powers and mode phases.
2 In the Settings window for Variables, locate the Variables section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:

NAME EXPRESSION UNIT DESCRIPTION

Pin1 abs(intop1(Etarget*conj(ewbe3.tH0modey_1)))^2/ W
abs(4*ewbe3.Pmode_1)
ph1 arg(intop1(Etarget*conj(ewbe3.tH0modey_1))/ rad
ewbe3.Pmode_1)
Pin2 abs(intop1(Etarget*conj(ewbe3.tH0modey_2)))^2/ W
abs(4*ewbe3.Pmode_2)
ph2 arg(intop1(Etarget*conj(ewbe3.tH0modey_2))/ rad
ewbe3.Pmode_2)

Ele c tr omag netic Wa ve s, Bea m E n v e l o p e s , B i d i r e c t i o n a l ,

Mode Expansion

Now, set the input powers and mode phases of the ports to the defined
expressions.

P ORT 1
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Electromagnetic Waves, Beam
Envelopes, Bidirectional, Mode Expansion node , then click Port 1 .
2 In the Settings window for Port, locate the Port Properties section.
3 In the Pin text field, type Pin1.
4 Locate the Port Mode Settings section. In the θin text field, type ph1.

P ORT 2
1 In the Model Builder window, click Port 2 .
2 In the Settings window for Port, locate the Port Properties section.

| 65
3 In the Pin text field, type Pin2.
4 Locate the Port Mode Settings section. In the θin text field, type ph2.

Add Study

1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Study to open the Add Study window.
2 Go to the Add Study window.
3 Find the Studies subsection. In the Select Study tree, select Empty Study.
4 Click Add Study in the window toolbar.

Study 3

1 In the Settings window for Study, type Study, Bidirectional, Mode

Expansion in the Label text field.
2 In the Home toolbar, click Add Study to close the Add Study window.

Stud y, B i directional

1 In the Model Builder window, under Study, Bidirectional , Ctrl-click to

select Step 1: Boundary Mode Analysis , Step 2: Boundary Mode Analysis 1
, Step 3: Boundary Mode Analysis 2 , Step 4: Boundary Mode Analysis 3
, and Step 5: Frequency Domain .
2 Right-click and choose Copy .

Study, Bidirectional, Mode Expansion

S TEP 1: B OUNDARY M ODE A NALYSIS

1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Study, Bidirectional, Mode Expansion
and choose Paste Multiple Items .
2 In the Settings window for Boundary Mode Analysis, locate the Physics and
Variables Selection section.

66 |
3 In the table, clear the Solve for check box for the Electromagnetic Waves, Beam
Envelopes, Bidirectional physics interface.

4 Repeat step 2 and 3 above for Step 2: Boundary Mode Analysis 1 , Step 3:
Boundary Mode Analysis 2 , Step 4: Boundary Mode Analysis 3 , and
Step 5: Frequency Domain .
5 In the Home toolbar, click Compute .

Results

E LECTRIC F IELD ( EWBE 3)

1 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, type Electric Field,
Bidirectional, Mode Expansion in the Label text field.
Modify the default Multislice plot to make it appear similar to the previous Slice
plots.

E LECTRIC F IELD
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Results>Electric Field, Bidirectional,
Mode Expansion node , then click Electric Field .
2 In the Settings window for Multislice, locate the Multiplane Data section.
3 Find the X-planes subsection. In the Planes text field, type 0.
4 Find the Y-planes subsection. In the Planes text field, type 0.
5 Click to expand the Quality section. From the Smoothing list, choose
Everywhere.

D EFORMATION 1
1 Right-click Electric Field and choose Deformation .
2 In the Settings window for Deformation, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Z-component text field, type ewbe3.normE.

| 67
4 In the Electric Field, Bidirectional, Mode Expansion toolbar, click Plot and
click the Zoom Extents button in the Graphics window toolbar.

It is clear that the input beam approximates the target field. Add a plot showing
the difference between the target field and the actual field.

3D P LOT G ROUP 5
1 In the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 3D Plot Group .
2 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, type Electric Field,
Difference Between Actual and Target in the Label text field.
3 Locate the Data section. From the Dataset list, choose Study, Bidirectional,
Mode Expansion/Solution 11.

S URFACE 1
1 Right-click Electric Field, Difference Between Actual and Target and
choose Surface .
2 In the Settings window for Surface, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type Etarget.

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D EFORMATION 1
1 Right-click Surface 1 and choose Deformation .
2 In the Settings window for Deformation, locate the Expression section.
3 In the X-component text field, type -Etarget.
4 Locate the Scale section. Select the Scale factor check box.
5 In the associated text field, type 1E-3.

S URFACE 2
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Electric Field, Difference Between
Actual and Target and choose Surface .
2 In the Settings window for Surface, locate the Expression section.
3 In the Expression text field, type ewbe3.Ez.
4 Click to expand the Inherit Style section. From the Plot list, choose Surface 1.

S ELECTION 1
1 Right-click Surface 2 and choose Selection .
2 Select Boundaries 1, 5, and 10.

D EFORMATION 1
1 In the Model Builder window, right-click Surface 2 and choose
Deformation .

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2 In the Settings window for Deformation, locate the Expression section.
3 In the X-component text field, type -ewbe3.Ez.
4 In the Electric Field, Difference Between Actual and Target toolbar, click Plot
.

Again, this plot shows that the two modes are superposed to approximate the
target field.

Definitions

To verify that the superposed modes approximate the target field, let the target
field now represent a wave launched in the right waveguide.

V ARIABLES 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 >Definitions click
Variables 1 .

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2 Select Boundaries 1 and 10 only.

V ARIABLES 2
1 In the Model Builder window, click Variables 2 .
2 Select Boundary 5 only.

3 In the Home toolbar, click Compute .

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Results

E LECTRIC F IELD, B IDIRECTIONAL , M ODE E XPANSION

1 Click the Zoom Extents button in the Graphics window toolbar.

The input wave now appear at the right waveguide, as expected.

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E LECTRIC F IELD, D IFFERENCE B ETWEEN A CTUAL AND T ARGET
1 In the Model Builder window, click Electric Field, Difference Between Actual
and Target and click the Zoom Extents button in the Graphics window
toolbar.

The result confirms that the input field approximates the target field.

E LECTRIC M ODE F IELDS

In Study, Bidirectional, Mode Expansion, the Generate default plots check box is
enabled (the default setting). Thus, default plots of the mode fields for the
numeric ports are generated, together with annotations of the effective mode
indices. Step through plot group Electric Mode Field, Port 1 (ewbe3) to Electric
Mode Field, Port 4 (ewbe3), to again inspect the mode fields and the effective
mode indices.

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1 Select the plot group Electric Mode Field, Port 1 (ewbe3), to see the mode field
of Port 1.

2 Next, select plot group Electric Mode Field, Port 2 (ewbe3), to see the mode
field of Port 2.

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3 Then, select plot group Electric Mode Field, Port 3 (ewbe3), to see the mode
field of Port 3.

4 Finally, select plot group Electric Mode Field, Port 4 (ewbe3), to see the mode
field of Port 4.

This concludes this introduction to the Wave Optics Module. For further reading
including theory sections, see the Wave Optics Module User’s Guide.

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