Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2022-2023)

The guiding, confining and processing of light using structures with dimensions
comparable to the optical wavelength has significantly enhanced our
communication, sensing and control capabilities. Greater demands on device
performance such as speed and sensitivity along with foot-print and power
reduction motivate researchers to explore novel materials and alternate
geometries. The optical resonator provides the core functionality of numerous
optical devices and is considered an optical configuration suitable to meet and
surpass forthcoming device requirements. An important step in the development
of next generation resonator based devices is the theoretical analysis of
proposed configurations prior to costly prototyping. Numerical simulations of
optical devices are rooted in solving Maxwell’s equations, an activity
supported in this research cycle.
The
research effort builds on existing custom developed numerical solvers that are efficient
in determining the optical properties of resonator states. The existence of
symmetry (cylindrical / spherical) imbedded within the resonator geometry and
exploitation of resonator state fundamental properties renders the device
design and theoretical analysis suitable for desk-top PC environments. To
address next generation resonator based devices, the material properties
available for research will be extended to include anisotropy, non-linearity,
gain, loss and frequency dependence. The intention is to also permit for
reconfigurable geometries where external stimuli can tune material properties
such as through the electro-optic effect, magneto-optic effect, optical
radiation based forces, charge density, and cavity deformation. The additional
material properties and geometry combinations will permit advanced
configurations to be explored such that next generation device requirements can
be reached and surpassed. The
advancements in the theoretical capabilities of the numerical solvers are
expected to have a significant impact on optical device research and design in
areas such as plasmonics, metamaterials, environmental sensing, bio-photonics, micro-structured
fibers and automation control.
Upon
completion it is expected that advances will have been achieved in the
refinement of the numerical computation techniques and extended the material
properties available to study resonator geometries, have proposed and
numerically examined new resonator material-geometry configurations. Iterative
and perturbative computation engines will be available. Numerical computation
engines will be freely available to all researchers via the internet and
promises to streamline the early stages of resonator based device development
in Canada and abroad. Considerations will be given to extending the numerical
techniques to other areas such as acoustics and quantum mechanics as these fields
often overlap with photonics.