Numerical Simulation and Design of Organic Integrated Optical Circuits: The PHOTOPOLIS Approach

Organic materials may provide an interesting alternative to integrated optics on either a stand-alone or a hybrid approach where they are combined with conventional material platforms. The development of accurate numerical tools is of paramount importance for designing these structures for telecommunication applications. In this paper, we demonstrate how standard computational electromagnetic methods can be applied in such designs, highlighting the device features that are important from a telecommunications point-of-view. Our analysis focuses on integrated optical waveguides, waveguide couplers, microring resonators and other passive structures. To analyze these devices we make use of analytical methods, such as coupled mode theory and numerical tools such as the finite difference frequency domain method. The tools outlined here form the basis for designing the structures that will be studied within the PHOTOPOLIS initiative.