SBIR Phase I: Automating the Design of Photonic Devices using Cloud-Based Computational Electromagnetics

This SBIR Phase I project involves the development of a turn-key simulation platform to automate electromagnetic design and modeling. This involves the integration of state-of-the-art open-source simulation engines with intelligent control software and cloud-based high-performance computing (HPC). Its three main benefits are to: (1) cut design time by at least 50%, (2) reduce operating costs by an order of magnitude via savings in labor and capital-equipment expenses, and (3) improve device performance, form factor, and energy efficiency by more than 10%. This tool enables the advanced manufacturing of new kinds of photonic and optoelectronic devices in critical industries including telecommunications, photovoltaics, biomedicine, photolithography, imaging, displays, and solid-state lighting. Its impact is to help propel US manufacturing competitiveness to the forefront of the $180B global photonics industry. This is the next generation of computer-aided design (CAD) tools. Simpetus will develop an on-demand, pay-per-use, cloud-based photonics simulation platform, built on top of state-of-the-art open-source electromagnetic simulation engines, to automate the design and prototyping of a range of photonic devices in critical industries including telecommunications, photovoltaics, imaging, displays, and solid-state lighting. Phase I will involve developing a new Python application program interface (API), simulation templates for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), metamaterial split-ring resonators, and other common devices, as well as pre- and post-processing modules to enhance the productivity of our tools. This tool for research and development will be deployed on scalable, high-performance computing (HPC) in the public cloud. Work in Phase I will lay the groundwork for Phase II to develop the first turn-key simulation platform for advanced photonics manufacturing.