JCMsuite is a finite element analysis software package for the simulation and analysis of electromagnetic waves, elasticity and heat conduction.
It also allows a mutual coupling between its optical, heat conduction and continuum mechanics solvers.
The software is mainly applied for the analysis and optimization of nanooptical and microoptical systems.
Its applications in research and development projects include dimensional metrology systems,[1][2][3] photolithographic systems,[4] photonic crystal fibers,[5][6][7] VCSELs,[8] Quantum-Dot emitters,[9] light trapping in solar cells,[10] and plasmonic systems.
[11] The design tasks can be embedded into the high-level scripting languages MATLAB and Python, enabling a scripting of design setups in order to define parameter dependent problems or to run parameter scans.
JCMsuite allows to treat various physical models (problem classes).
Scattering problems are problems, where the refractive index geometry of the objects is given, incident waves as well as (possibly) interior sources are known and the response of the structure in terms of reflected, refracted and diffracted waves has to be computed.
The system is described by time-harmonic Maxwell's Equation for given sources
(current densities, e.g. electric dipoles) and incident fields.
Since the scattered fields move away from the object they have to satisfy a radiation condition at the boundary of the computational domain.
In order to avoid reflections at the boundaries, they are modelled by the mathematical rigorous method of a perfectly matched layer (PML).
To compute waveguide modes, the Maxwell's curl-curl Equation is solved in the following form Due to the symmetry of the problem, the electrical field
depending just on the position in the transverse plane and a phase factor.
Given the permeability, permittivity and frequency, JCMsuite finds pairs of the electric field
JCMsuite also solves the corresponding formulation for the magnetic field
No incident waves or interior sources are present.
fulfilling the time-harmonic Maxwell's curl-curl equation, e.g., for a pair of
Ohmic losses of the electromagnetic field can cause a heating, which distributes over the object and changes the refractive index of the structure.
The temperature profile can be used as an input to optical computations to account for the temperature dependence of the refractive index up to linear order.
A heating due to Ohmic losses may also induce mechanical stress via thermal expansion.
JCMsuite can solve linear problems of continuum mechanics.
The equations governing linear elasticity follow from the minimum principle for the elastic energy subject to fixed or free displacement boundary conditions.
(due to thermal expansion), and the prescribed force
Stress and strain are related by Young's modulus.
JCMsuite relies on the finite element method.
Details of the numerical implementation have been published in various contributions, e.g.[12] The performance of the methods has been compared to alternative methods in various benchmarks, e.g.[13][14] Due to the attainable high numerical accuracy JCMsuite has been used as reference for results obtained with analytical (approximative) methods, e.g.[15][11]