Design suite accelerates optoelectronic device analysis

Version 2017.03 of the RSoft Photonic Component Design Suite accelerates optoelectronic device analysis with an updated interface to Synopsys' Sentaurus TCAD products and new general monitor objects in the RSoft BeamPROP tool that can speed simulations of waveguide photodetectors by as much as 100x compared to Finite-Difference-Time-Domain (FDTD) methods. The release also builds on the RSoft tools' capabilities for modeling nanoscale optical structures with an improved Bidirectional Scattering Distribution Function (BSDF) calculation for mixed-level LED/OLED simulations.

Sentaurus TCAD interface: enhanced usability and faster waveguide photodetector simulations
The Sentaurus TCAD interface provides seamless integration of the RSoft optical tools in Sentaurus Workbench for in-depth, multidisciplinary simulations of optoelectronic devices. Usability improvements include support for systems with dispersive materials and dynamic updates of materials and the common simulation area. Native bi-directional data interchange between the RSoft tools and Sentaurus Workbench has been expanded to include the BeamPROP tool for waveguide detector simulation, giving designers a substantial speed advantage. Specifically, BeamPROP's new general monitor objects perform highly efficient optical power absorption calculations to speed photodetector simulations by up to 100x when compared to FDTD-based methods. This enables faster device characterisation and optimisation and also reduces time-to-market and development costs.

"Designers can use the RSoft-Sentaurus TCAD interface for accurate, high-speed simulations of complex optoelectronic that benefit from both photonic and electronic simulations," said George Bayz, Vice President and General Manager of Synopsys' Optical Solutions Group. "For example, the new version offers significantly faster simulations of waveguide detectors used in photonic integrated circuits."

Improved BSDF scattering calculation
The release improves Synopsys' LightTools and RSoft mixed-level co-simulation method, which combines ray- and wave-based techniques to incorporate polarised diffraction effects in LightTools' ray-tracing simulator with accuracy and efficiency. The co-simulation method uses the RSoft BSDF capability, which now performs more robust scattering calculations of polarisation-dependent effects in nanoscale optical structures. This can be useful for designing LEDs and OLEDs used in high-efficiency backlights, projection display lighting and sensors.