Photonic Solutions Enewsletter

OptoDesigner Release Highlights

Fixes and enhancements:

• mask::netlist() now has an extra parameter to display only certain elements
• New function pda::getNetlistBBs returns a data structure with all layout instances in a pda netlist
• Commenting out #endif in scripts now works as expected
• Classes like vector_int are no longer part of the standard @layout, but must be included through #include @stdlib
• pdk packing functionality
• gds file import correctly interprets mirrored instantiations again
• Trenching operations now support layer (0,0)
• No longer removes nonstandardly-named 'PDAConfig.ini' when lib.defs file is present
• pda::newBB now errors out if the requested name is an empty string
• Invalid characters in loaded scripts now properly detected and replaced by spaces
• Invalid character encoding in loaded scripts detected
• Help menu xml can also be loaded without an internet connection
• pxBusGuide with single waveguide now uses specified radius
• Fixed bug in Concat function that could invert the sign of the first entry
• BendEulerFull with negative angle now has correct output port location
• ml::CircleSegment no longer triggers erroneous mcsCurveCheck errors
• Fixed crash in export for very rare cases

OptSim Release Highlights

New Support for Multimode Simulations for PICs

Most Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) are designed with fundamental modes. However, applications for multimode silicon photonics are on the rise. These applications include mode-division multiplexing, multimode coupling, on-chip nonlinear photonics, on-chip polarization handling devices and multimode gratings, and quantum photonics. To be able to model multimode photonic applications, the photonic simulators need to evolve from supporting few modes (TE, TM and crosstalk) to supporting multimode simulation, analyses and visualization.

1. Synopsys OptSim 2022.06 adds new model templates and modeling capabilities as enumerated below to facilitate multimode PIC simulations:
   • Additional model templates for:
     • Mode Adder
     • Mode Splitter 
     • Mode Combiner
     • Polarized Mode Splitter
     • Polarized Mode Combiner
2. New multimode support in the Waveguide model template
3. New multimode support in the Multiport Optical Device Bidirectional model template

Added Support for Monte Carlo Analyses

Variations in manufacturing processes and component parameters require rigorous Monte Carlo analyses in order to get realistic estimates of the yield and commercial viability of the design. The Synopsys OptoCompiler platform provides powerful capabilities for Monte Carlo and corner analyses. Since traditional CMOS designers are a key user group of electronic-photonic design automation (EPDA), it is necessary to augment the design experience by providing EDA-like Monte Carlo features to the design flow. Synopsys OptSim v2022.06 adds a new support for statistical expressions during Monte Carlo simulation (e.g., UNIF, AUNIF, GAUSS, AGAUSS, LIMIT) in Synopsys OptoCompiler.

Enhancements to Electronic-Photonic Co-Simulation

Synopsys OptoCompiler and the Synopsys PrimeWave design environment provide designers with seamless schematic entry and simulation setup for both electronics and photonics on the same chip or combination of chips. Designers choose a desired Synopsys PrimeSim electrical simulator (e.g., Synopsys PrimeSim Spice or PrimeSim HSPICE) for co-simulation with Synopsys OptSim. Synopsys OptoCompiler v2022.06 extends co-simulation support to schematics with multi-level, mixed-domain hierarchies including electronic and photonic devices.

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