Efficient Computational Methods for Optical Components

Abstract

When performing computations to answer questions surrounding the design of optical components, several different numerical methods can be useful. Which method to choose depends on the size of the component and the nature of the electromagnetic wave propagation. Very accurate general-purpose methods, so called full-wave methods, are frequently used when designing micro- and nano-optical devices, whereas approximate methods such as ray tracing are needed when designing macroscopic lens systems. The following tutorial gives a quick background of the traditional methods and then demonstrates the newer beam envelope method and its virtues in computational optics.