Skip to Main Content
Free Trials

Ansys Lumerical MODE
Optical Waveguide & Coupler Solver

Whether you are working on fiber optics or integrated photonics, MODE has everything you need to get the most out of your waveguide and coupler designs.

Free Trial Contact Us
SOLVE THE UNSOLVABLE

Comprehensive Optical Waveguide Design Environment

MODE enables you to accurately model waveguide and coupler performance. Combining bidirectional Eigenmode expansion, varFDTD, and finite difference eigenmode solvers, MODE can easily handle both large planar structures and long propagation lengths, providing accurate spatial field, modal frequency, and overlap analysis.

  • Accurately Simulate Planar Waveguides
    Accurately Simulate Planar Waveguides
  • Compatible With Dispersive Materials
    Compatible With Dispersive Materials
  • High Accuracy With Advanced Conformal Mesh Solver
    High Accuracy With Advanced Conformal Mesh Solver
  • Compatible With High-Index Contrast Materials
    Compatible With High-Index Contrast Materials
mode

Quick Specs

Lumerical MODE puts high-accuracy waveguide simulation at the forefront with a Finite Difference Eigenmode (FDE) solver, a  variational FDTD (varFDTD) solver, and a Bidirectional Eigenmode Expansion (EME) solver.

  • 2.5D varFDTD Solver
  • Bend Loss Analysis
  • Anisotropic Materials
  • Finite Difference Eigenmode Solver
  • Helical Waveguides
  • Eigenmode Expansion Solver
  • Foundry Compatible Automated Layer Builder
  • Advanced Conformal Mesh
  • Overlap Analysis
  • Magneto-optical Waveguide Analysis
  • Spatially Varying Temperature and Charge Density Profile Import

JULY 2024

What's New

The Ansys Lumerical 2024 R2 brings a suite of powerful updates and features across its photonics core technologies, ecosystem, cloud and HPC, workflows and user experience.

2024 R2 Lumerical layer builder
Layer Builder Enhancements

Enhanced functionalities for layer definition and management, improving design workflow efficiency.

Resources

Webinar icon block
Webinar

Ansys Lumerical’s Component Level Tools

This webinar will start with an overview of the broad set of component level solvers it offers with an emphasis on FDTD and MODE. It will then show how these solvers can be used to simulate and optimize novel designs in a wide range of applications including micro-LEDs, augmented reality, magneto-optics and lasers.

View
2020-12-white-paper-icon-block.jpg
White Paper

Optical Solvers for Integrated Optical Components

Lumerical provides a versatile and comprehensive design environment suitable for all passive components, enabling photonic component and system designers to implement an efficient workflow for accurate designs.

View
hiking
Application

Waveguide (FDE)

The Finite Difference Eigenmode (FDE) solver in MODE is used to characterize straight and bent waveguides. These parameters are then used to create a waveguide element in INTERCONNECT. It is also shown how to extract these parameters for compact model generation using the CML Compiler.

View
2020-12-white-paper-icon-block.jpg
White Paper

Lumerical’s 2.5D FDTD Propagation Method

MODE Solutions’ varFDTD solver is a versatile solver for simulating broadband, omni-directional light propagation in waveguide components. 

View
2020-12-case-study-icon-block.jpg
Case Study

Xanadu

Xanadu builds X8 quantum computing chip with unprecedented low-loss performance while significantly accelerating their design schedule.

View

CAPABILITIES

Lumerical MODE is a comprehensive optical waveguide design environment

Create your model faster — and with accuracy — by employing Lumerical MODE. Lumerical MODE lets you focus on ideas and product, instead of worrying about how the software can get you there. The Bidirectional Eigenmode expansion and varFDTD engines easily handle both large planar structures and long propagation lengths, providing accurate spatial field, modal frequency, and overlap analysis.

mode

 

Key Features

  • Bend Loss Analysis
  • Overlap Calculation/Analysis
  • Modal Area Analysis
  • Variational FDTD Solver
  • Bidirectional Eigenmode Expansion
  • Layer Builder
  • Lumerical connectors in Ansys optiSLang

Lumerical MODE provides advanced bend loss analysis.

Easily perform overlap calculation/analysis with Lumerical MODE.

Creating a reliable final design requires multiple levels of analysis throughout the simulation process. Lumerical MODE does just that with modal area analysis. 

Enjoy the accuracy of 3D FDTD, but at 2D simulation speeds. You can simulate large planar waveguides with accuracy and speed by using Lumerical MODE’s 2.5D varFDTD solver. 

Use Lumerical MODE to simulate electromagnetic propagation for large propagation lengths in waveguide or fiber devices. The software automatically sweeps device length and periodicity. 

Change the position, ordering, and thickness of each layer. Simulate curved side-angled waveguides, then export the layer configuration, including material data, as a process file (.lbr) that foundries can fabricate.

Automate Multiphysics simulation workflows and benefit from the state-of-the-art sensitivity analysis and optimization algorithms available in optiSLang.

White Papers

2020-12-white-paper-icon-block.jpg
White Paper

Optical Solvers for Integrated Optical Components

Integrated optical components can take on a large variety of geometries and sizes, and it is unlikely that a single solver will be able to treat all integrated optical components optimally. In order to achieve reliable and efficient virtual prototyping, a combination of solvers can be employed in the design process from initial concept, to prototyping, to final verification prior to fabrication.

View
2020-12-white-paper-icon-block.jpg
White Paper

Lumerical’s 2.5D FDTD Propagation Method

MODE Solutions’ varFDTD solver is a versatile solver for simulating broadband, omni-directional light propagation in waveguide components. 

View

Webinars on Demand

Reference Manual

VIEW ALL PHOTONICS REFERENCE MANUALS

2020-12-other-icon-block.jpg

MODE Product Reference Manual

The MODE reference manual provides detailed descriptions of product and solver (FDE, EME, varFDTD) features.

Read more

Application Gallery

View all Photonics Applications

2020-12-application-brief-icon-block.jpg
Application

Waveguide (FDE)

The Finite Difference Eigenmode (FDE) solver in MODE is used to characterize straight and bent waveguides. These parameters are then used to create a waveguide element in INTERCONNECT. It is also shown how to extract these parameters for compact model generation using the CML Compiler.

Read Application
2020-12-application-brief-icon-block.jpg
Application

Multimode interference (MMI) coupler

Calculate the broadband transmission and optical loss through a 1×2 port multi-mode interference (MMI) coupler. Use the device S-parameters to create a compact model of the MMI in INTERCONNECT.

Read Application
2020-12-application-brief-icon-block.jpg
Application

Thermally tuned waveguide (FDE)

In this example, we will characterize the optical response of a thermally tuned waveguide. 

Read Application

Ansys software is accessible

It's vital to Ansys that all users, including those with disabilities, can access our products. As such, we endeavor to follow accessibility requirements based on the US Access Board (Section 508), Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and the current format of the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT).

View VPAT Reports