RELEASE NOTES

OptiGrating 4.2.3

December 2014

Overview
OptiGrating 4.2.3 is an update to OptiGrating 4.2.2. It presents fixes to issues and implements
enhancements suggested in the time between these two releases.

Summary of Enhancements
BZ 4282 Sensors

OptiGrating has a sensors option available for 2 and 3 layer fibres. Problems were
noted in the calculation of this effect. The source of the problem was inconsistencies
in the interpretation of Average Index in the grating definition. To fix the problem, the
definition of Average Index has been changed and applied consistently across the
whole application. Please note this change in Average Index interpretation. The
average index is now applied to the modal index of the simulation. It is like changing
the index of every layer in the profile by the same amount. The Average Index value
is set and controlled by the user in the Grating Definition dialog box. The software
does not modify it. If a change to the average index within a single layer only (such as
the fibre core) is desired, the Shape function should be modified so as to create a
change in average index that is restricted to the photosensitive region.

BZ 4284 Profile view is incorrect

The Profile view illustrates the change of index modulation over the length of the
grating. It displays level of index modulation including apodization, and average
index. However, the Profile view did not always display as expected. The Profile View
consists of two curves defined over the length of the grating. Let Dn0(z), Dn, A(z) be
Average Index, Index Modulation, and Apodization. Let f_min and f_max be the
minimum and maximum values of the Shape function. Then the upper and lower
curves should follow

Dn0(z) + Dn * A(z) * f_min

Dn0(z) + Dn * A(z) * f_max

The software was modified to display this way. Note this definition does not show
photosensitivity or its effects. It is expected the user will normalize the maximum value
of photosensitivity to 1, and the plot shows the index modulation for that case.
RELEASE NOTES

G-3 Cannot read one column data in the grating "Shape"

When reading the Shape function in from a data file, the external data file contains
either one or two columns of numbers in text format, separated by a comma or a
space.

Two Columns - If the file has two columns, the first column is the position along the
grating length (for Average Index, Period Chirp, and Apodization) or the position along
a single period (For Grating Shape). The second column is the defined Grating
Shape, Average Index, Period Chirp, or Apodization value.

One Column – In this case, the column is the defined Grating Shape, Average
Index,Period Chirp, or Apodization value. It is assumed that the data are uniformly
distributed on the X axis.

In the case of Grating Shape, if the data was in One Column format, it was not read
correctly. This problem has now been fixed.

BZ 4229 Simulation with multimode sensors has inconsistent results

In a long period grating with sensors and many modes selected, the application was
giving incorrect or inconsistent results. Pressing Calculate twice could give different
results.

The problem was traced to an error in the calculation of array index. The array index
caused data from outside the array boundary to be read and used in the calculation.
The inconsistent results came from the uncontrolled data outside the array. The array
index has been corrected and the problem is now fixed.

G-2 Typo in the Mouseover box

A typo in the Grating Manager dialog box has been corrected.

BZ 4062 Units incorrect in Tools Group Delay dialog box

The Group Delay dialog box in Tools >> Group Delay does a power series curve fitting
of delay in ps. The terms are labelled ps, ps/um, ps/um^2. However, any example
shows this is ps/nm, not ps/um. The algorithm was also examined, and it was
confirmed the spectral unit is nm. The labels have been corrected.
 RELEASE NOTES

OptiGrating 4.2.2

June 2008

Overview
OptiGrating 4.2.2 , released as an update to OptiGrating 4.2.1, fixes issues and
implements enhancements suggested in the time between these two releases.

Summary of Enhancements
2812 Better description of the Average Index.

The average index is defined by equation (15) in the Technical Background chapter
of the manual. The definition in the manual is confusing in the case of Average Index,
as equation (15) applies to the grating only, and not to the waveguide as a whole.
Added helpful suggestion near equation (15) in the manual.

3984 Documentation for Other Waveguide

The documentation of Other Waveguide needs more detail in the definition of Overlap
Integral in the Input Mode panel and in the Mode List. More detail has been added in
the manual.

3668 Permit Entry of Central Wavelength in Other Waveguide Project

Now the data can be entered in the Grating Definition dialog box in the case of Other
Waveguide Project. Once entered, the Central Wavelength is also displayed in the
main window.

3736 Remove Restriction on Refractive Index of Fibre

Allow entering a value of real part of refractive index less than one.

3933 Out of memory trouble on dispersion enabled multimode scan

This trouble starts when the selected modes don't exist for every wavelength. Most
cases will run without error, but if there are fewer than 2 data points with all modes
existing, the projects could finish with an "Out of Memory" message. The problem has
been fixed.

4043 Waveguide modesolver has wrong X axis

The Waveguide Module has a mode solver for 2D modes. The mode can be viewed
after solving, but the X axis of that graph is wrongly labelled. The exported graph X
axis is also wrong. The problem has been fixed.

3370 Phase Shift Radio Button selection not working properly

The Radio Button in the Phase Shift dialog box of the Grating Manager sometimes
doesn't show the ON dot in the radio button. The problem has been fixed.

4032 Uniform Micro strain constant not remembered by dialog box

In the Sensors definition, 2 Layer fibres open the Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor dialog
box, and 3 layer fibres open the Long Period Grating Sensor dialog box. The Uniform
option of the micro strain panel does not keep the constant. The problem has been
fixed.

2889 Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor box does not remember value in field

Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor dialog box should hold the temperature of the grating.
The problem has been fixed.

3680 Strain Optic option of Fibre Sensors crashes OptiGrating

For a long time we used a workaround for this trouble, since the Long Period Grating
Sensors feature is identical to the Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor, except that the former
permits different strain-optic parameters to be entered for the cladding and substrate.
In this release the original trouble is also fixed, making the workaround unnecessary.

2994 Profile tab graph has wrong amplitude

For a grating with more than one grating in the Grating Manager with different index
modulations, the Profile does not display the correct amplitudes for the separate
gratings, even though the calculated result is still correct. The display problem has
been fixed.

Known Issue

When OptiGrating is started with Remote Desktop, the colours that indicate local
period in the Profile tab will not appear. The problem does not appear when
OptiGrating is accessed remotely with Remote Desktop, but only if the instance of
OptiGrating was originally opened locally.
 RELEASE NOTES

OptiGrating 4.2.1

July 2004

Overview
OptiGrating 4.2.1 was released as an update to OptiGrating 4.2. Before this update,
the software used to apply restrictions to refractive index input, not permitting values
of refractive index less than one. This restriction was in place to help a user who
enters bad data by accident. Since the release of 4.2, the modeling of Surface
Plasmons with metal layers in planar waveguides has become more common. The
Cauchy Integral based mode solver of OptiGrating is ideally suited to the solving of
these complex modes. Therefore OptiGrating 4.2.1 was released to allow input of
refractive index of typical metals, often having a real part of refractive index less than
unity. In OptiGrating 4.2.1, the restriction on entry value of refractive index of layers
was removed and the mode solver was tested to confirm correct results for finding
modes with Surface Plasmons. The user might be interested to reproduce this text
book example of a Surface Plasmon using OptiGrating 4.2.1

Surface plasmon example: Air-silver interface

lambda = .6328 um TM
silver, n = 0.067 - j4.05
According to the reference, the surface plasmon should have modal index*
1.032 - j 0.0011
In stetting up the OptiGrating example, note that OptiGrating still requires at least 3
layers in the waveguide. This can be accommodated by letting either the silver or air
layer consist of two identical layers. The result from OptiGrating is
TM(0) 1.0319225 - j 0.0011076801
Reference: "Optical Waves in Layered Media", page 336
Pochi Yeh
(John Wiley, New York, 1988)
QC176.8.O6Y45 1988
ISBN 0-471-82866 -1
*Note the 1/2 in the definition of alpha in eqn (11.4-10)
RELEASE NOTES

OptiGrating 4.2

March 2003

Overview
OptiGrating version 4.2 is the new, enhanced release of the market -leading Optiwave
product, IFO_Gratings 4.0. It addresses several key issues that Optiwave has
become aware of based on feedback received from our valued customers.

Summary of enhancements
Import/Export of Apodization Function

When asked to export Apodization, OptiGrating would actually return not just A(z) in
Equation 15 of the User’s Reference manual, but n*A(z). This is the envelope of the
Profile, and not, strictly speaking, the Apodization as defined in Equation 15. This has
been adjusted. In OptiGrating 4.2, both import and export of Apodization function will
work on the actual A(z).

Loading an Index Profile

In the Profiles dialog box, the button that enabled input from a data file was not
functional. It has been implemented for 4.2.

Using SCAN parameter in Sensors tab

In the Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor user-defined dialog box, there are user-defined
functions. The SCAN variable is now available in the dialog box in order to enable the
scan of micro-strain.

File name on Title bar

Occasionally, when switching amongst the tab views in the main window, the File
name would disappear from the Title bar. The File name now consistently appears in
the Title bar.

Axes Labels on Graphs associated with the Inverse Scattering Solver

Some graphs associated with the inverse scattering solver had ambiguous labels on
the axes. This labeling has been clarified.