Comparison of EM simulation software

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The following table lists software packages with their own article on Wikipedia that are nominal EM (electromagnetic) simulators;

Name License Windows Linux 3DGUIConvergence detectorMesherAlgorithmArea of application
NEC open sourceYesYesYesIn some distributionsYesmanual MoM Antenna modeling, especially in Amateur Radio. Widely used as the basis for many GUI-based programs on many platforms. Version 2 is open source, but Versions 3 and 4 are commercially licensed.
Momentum commercialYesYesPartialYesYesequidistant MoM For passive planar elements development, integrated into Keysight EEsof Advanced Design System.
Ansys HFSS commercialYesYesYesYesYesAutomatic adaptive FEM, FDTD, PO, Hybrid FEBI, MoM, and Eigenmode expansion (EME).For antenna/filter/IC packages, Radome, RFIC, MMIC, Antenna Placement, Waveguide (radio frequency), EMI, Frequency selective surfaces (FSS), Electromagnetic metamaterials, Composite Material, RCS-Mono and Bi development.
XFdtd commercialYesYesYesYesYesAutomatic (project optimized) FDTD RF and microwave antennas, components, and systems, including mobile devices. MRI coils, radar, waveguides, SAR validation.
AWR Axiem commercialYesYesYesYesYesAutomatic, HybridMoMPCBs, multi-layer PCBs, LTCC, HTCC, on-chip passives, printed antennas. Integrated into Microwave Office.
AWR Analyst commercialYesYesYesYesYesAutomatic and adaptive FEM 3D structurers (including 3D antennas), waveguides, 3D filters, PCBs, multi-layer PCBs, LTCC, HTCC, on-chip Passives, printed antennas. Integrated into Microwave Office.
JCMsuite commercialYesYesYesYesYesAutomatic, error-controlled FEM Nano- and micro-photonic applications (light scattering, [1] waveguide modes, [2] optical resonances [3] ).
QuickField commercial and free editionsYesNoPartialYesYesAutomatic or Manual FEM General purpose for research, engineering and educational use, includes AC, DC and Transient Magnetics, Electrostatics, AC and DC Conduction, Transient Electrics, Heat Transfer and multiphysics
COMSOL Multiphysics commercialYesYesYesYesYesAutomatic FEM, MoM, BPM, ray tracing General purpose
FEKO commercialYesYesYesYesYesAutomatic or manual; adaptive MoM, FEM FDTD MLFMM PO RL-GO UTD For antenna analysis, antenna placement, windscreen antennas, microstrip circuits, waveguide structures, radomes, EMI, cable coupling, FSS, metamaterials, periodic structures, RFID
Elmer FEM open source (GPL)YesYesYesYesYesmanual, or can import other mesh formats FEM General purpose, includes 2D and 3D magnetics solvers, both static and harmonic. 3D solver is based on the Whitney AV formulation of Maxwell's equations.
VSimEM CommercialYesYesYesYesYesAutomatic, variable mesh FDTD, PIC, finite volume Simulating electromagnetics, and electrostatics in complex dielectric and metallic environments. Phased array antenna systems, radar equipment, and photonics.
Meep open source (GPL)NoYesYesNoYesmanual FDTD, FDFD Optics and photonics (nanophotonics, photonic crystals, plasmonics, silicon photonics, metamaterials)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polariton</span> Quasiparticles arising from EM wave coupling

In physics, polaritons are bosonic quasiparticles resulting from strong coupling of electromagnetic waves (photon) with an electric or magnetic dipole-carrying excitation (state) of solid or liquid matter. Polaritons describe the crossing of the dispersion of light with any interacting resonance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical coherence tomography</span> Imaging technique

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging technique that uses interferometry with short-coherence-length light to obtain micrometer-level depth resolution and uses transverse scanning of the light beam to form two- and three-dimensional images from light reflected from within biological tissue or other scattering media. Short-coherence-length light can be obtained using a superluminescent diode (SLD) with a broad spectral bandwidth or a broadly tunable laser with narrow linewidth. The first demonstration of OCT imaging was published by a team from MIT and Harvard Medical School in a 1991 article in the journal Science. The article introduced the term "OCT" to credit its derivation from optical coherence-domain reflectometry, in which the axial resolution is based on temporal coherence. The first demonstrations of in vivo OCT imaging quickly followed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metamaterial</span> Materials engineered to have properties that have not yet been found in nature

A metamaterial is a type of material engineered to have a property, typically rarely observed in naturally occurring materials, that is derived not from the properties of the base materials but from their newly designed structures. Metamaterials are usually fashioned from multiple materials, such as metals and plastics, and are usually arranged in repeating patterns, at scales that are smaller than the wavelengths of the phenomena they influence. Their precise shape, geometry, size, orientation, and arrangement give them their "smart" properties of manipulating electromagnetic, acoustic, or even seismic waves: by blocking, absorbing, enhancing, or bending waves, to achieve benefits that go beyond what is possible with conventional materials.


Stochastic electrodynamics (SED) is extends classical electrodynamics (CED) of theoretical physics by adding the hypothesis of a classical Lorentz invariant radiation field having statistical properties similar to that of the electromagnetic zero-point field (ZPF) of quantum electrodynamics (QED).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical neural network</span>

An optical neural network is a physical implementation of an artificial neural network with optical components. Early optical neural networks used a photorefractive Volume hologram to interconnect arrays of input neurons to arrays of output with synaptic weights in proportion to the multiplexed hologram's strength. Volume holograms were further multiplexed using spectral hole burning to add one dimension of wavelength to space to achieve four dimensional interconnects of two dimensional arrays of neural inputs and outputs. This research led to extensive research on alternative methods using the strength of the optical interconnect for implementing neuronal communications.

In optics, slow light is the propagation of an optical pulse or other modulation of an optical carrier at a very low group velocity. Slow light occurs when a propagating pulse is substantially slowed by the interaction with the medium in which the propagation takes place.

Spin pumping is the dynamical generation of pure spin current by the coherent precession of magnetic moments, which can efficiently inject spin from a magnetic material into an adjacent non-magnetic material. The non-magnetic material usually hosts the spin Hall effect that can convert the injected spin current into a charge voltage easy to detect. A spin pumping experiment typically requires electromagnetic irradiation to induce magnetic resonance, which converts energy and angular momenta from electromagnetic waves to magnetic dynamics and then to electrons, enabling the electronic detection of electromagnetic waves. The device operation of spin pumping can be regarded as the spintronic analog of a battery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Split-ring resonator</span> A resonator

A split-ring resonator (SRR) is an artificially produced structure common to metamaterials. Its purpose is to produce the desired magnetic susceptibility in various types of metamaterials up to 200 terahertz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical properties of carbon nanotubes</span> Optical properties of the material

The optical properties of carbon nanotubes are highly relevant for materials science. The way those materials interact with electromagnetic radiation is unique in many respects, as evidenced by their peculiar absorption, photoluminescence (fluorescence), and Raman spectra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Negative-index metamaterial</span> Material with a negative refractive index

Negative-index metamaterial or negative-index material (NIM) is a metamaterial whose refractive index for an electromagnetic wave has a negative value over some frequency range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terahertz metamaterial</span>

A terahertz metamaterial is a class of composite metamaterials designed to interact at terahertz (THz) frequencies. The terahertz frequency range used in materials research is usually defined as 0.1 to 10 THz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photonic metamaterial</span> Type of electromagnetic metamaterial

A photonic metamaterial (PM), also known as an optical metamaterial, is a type of electromagnetic metamaterial, that interacts with light, covering terahertz (THz), infrared (IR) or visible wavelengths. The materials employ a periodic, cellular structure.

A nonlinear metamaterial is an artificially constructed material that can exhibit properties not yet found in nature. Its response to electromagnetic radiation can be characterized by its permittivity and material permeability. The product of the permittivity and permeability results in the refractive index. Unlike natural materials, nonlinear metamaterials can produce a negative refractive index. These can also produce a more pronounced nonlinear response than naturally occurring materials.

A metamaterial absorber is a type of metamaterial intended to efficiently absorb electromagnetic radiation such as light. Furthermore, metamaterials are an advance in materials science. Hence, those metamaterials that are designed to be absorbers offer benefits over conventional absorbers such as further miniaturization, wider adaptability, and increased effectiveness. Intended applications for the metamaterial absorber include emitters, photodetectors, sensors, spatial light modulators, infrared camouflage, wireless communication, and use in solar photovoltaics and thermophotovoltaics.

A plasmonic metamaterial is a metamaterial that uses surface plasmons to achieve optical properties not seen in nature. Plasmons are produced from the interaction of light with metal-dielectric materials. Under specific conditions, the incident light couples with the surface plasmons to create self-sustaining, propagating electromagnetic waves known as surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). Once launched, the SPPs ripple along the metal-dielectric interface. Compared with the incident light, the SPPs can be much shorter in wavelength.

In physics, the exciton–polariton is a type of polariton; a hybrid light and matter quasiparticle arising from the strong coupling of the electromagnetic dipolar oscillations of excitons and photons. Because light excitations are observed classically as photons, which are massless particles, they do not therefore have mass, like a physical particle. This property makes them a quasiparticle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orbital angular momentum multiplexing</span> Optical multiplexing technique

Orbital angular momentum multiplexing is a physical layer method for multiplexing signals carried on electromagnetic waves using the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of the electromagnetic waves to distinguish between the different orthogonal signals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electromagnetic metasurface</span>

An electromagnetic metasurface refers to a kind of artificial sheet material with sub-wavelength features. Metasurfaces can be either structured or unstructured with subwavelength-scaled patterns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JCMsuite</span> Simulation software

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, photolithographic systems, photonic crystal fibers, VCSELs, Quantum-Dot emitters, light trapping in solar cells, and plasmonic systems. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GW170817</span> Gravitational-wave signal detected in 2017

GW170817 was a gravitational wave (GW) signal observed by the LIGO and Virgo detectors on 17 August 2017, originating from the shell elliptical galaxy NGC 4993, about 140 million light years away. The signal was produced by the last moments of the inspiral process of a binary pair of neutron stars, ending with their merger. It was the first GW observation to be confirmed by non-gravitational means. Unlike the five previous GW detections—which were of merging black holes and thus not expected to produce a detectable electromagnetic signal—the aftermath of this merger was seen across the electromagnetic spectrum by 70 observatories on 7 continents and in space, marking a significant breakthrough for multi-messenger astronomy. The discovery and subsequent observations of GW170817 were given the Breakthrough of the Year award for 2017 by the journal Science.

References

  1. Hoffmann, J.; et al. (2009). Bosse, Harald; Bodermann, Bernd; Silver, Richard M (eds.). "Comparison of electromagnetic field solvers for the 3D analysis of plasmonic nano antennas". Proc. SPIE. Modeling Aspects in Optical Metrology II. 7390: 73900J. arXiv: 0907.3570 . Bibcode:2009SPIE.7390E..0JH. doi:10.1117/12.828036. S2CID   54741011.
  2. Wong, G. K. L.; et al. (2012). "Excitation of Orbital Angular Momentum Resonances in Helically Twisted Photonic Crystal Fiber". Science. 337 (6093): 446–449. Bibcode:2012Sci...337..446W. doi:10.1126/science.1223824. PMID   22837523. S2CID   206542221.
  3. Maes, B.; et al. (2013). "Simulations of high-Q optical nanocavities with a gradual 1D bandgap". Opt. Express. 21 (6): 6794–806. Bibcode:2013OExpr..21.6794M. doi: 10.1364/OE.21.006794 . hdl: 1854/LU-4243856 . PMID   23546062.