Eigenmode expansion
Eigenmode expansion (EME) is a computational electrodynamics modelling technique. It is also referred to as the mode matching technique or the bidirectional eigenmode propagation method (BEP method). Eigenmode expansion is a linear frequency-domain method.
It offers very strong benefits compared with FDTD, FEM and the beam propagation method for the modelling of optical waveguides, and it is a popular tool for the modelling linear effects in fiber optics and silicon photonics devices.
Eigenmode expansion is a rigorous technique to simulate electromagnetic propagation which relies on the decomposition of the electromagnetic fields into a basis set of local eigenmodes that exists in the cross section of the device. The eigenmodes are found by solving Maxwell's equations in each local cross-section. The method can be fully vectorial provided that the mode solvers themselves are fully vectorial.
In a typical waveguide, there are a few guided modes (which propagate without coupling along the waveguide) and an infinite number of radiation modes (which carry optical power away from the waveguide). The guided and radiation modes together form a complete basis set. Many problems can be resolved by considering only a modest number of modes, making EME a very powerful method.
As can be seen from the mathematical formulation, the algorithm is inherently bi-directional. It uses the scattering matrix (S-matrix) technique to join different sections of the waveguide or to model nonuniform structures. For structures that vary continuously along the z-direction, a form of z-discretisation is required. Advanced algorithms have been developed for the modelling of optical tapers.
In a structure where the optical refractive index does not vary in the z direction, the solutions of Maxwell's equations take the form of a plane wave:
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