SSP Project Summary:

Parallel processing of a 3-D BPM algorithm for nonlinear optoelectronic device modelling

This project will extend work already done with EPCC to implement a 3-D finite-difference beam-propagation algorithm in parallel-processing machines. The purpose of the algorithm is to model the propagation of electromagnetic waves at optical frequencies in guided-wave devices which may contain nonlinear interactions with the dielectric materials of the waveguide. The BPM is based on a paraxial reduction of the scalar wave equation, so that a parabolic PDE is generated which can be represented as a Hamiltonian evolution equation. The algorithm has already been thoroughly tested on the EPCC Connection Machine CM-200 and on a 64-transputer cluster in Glasgow. The aims of the project would be, first, to run the code on the Cray at EPCC and calibrate its performance and, second, to investigate boundary conditions transverse to the direction of paraxial propagation which correctly simulate the radiation of EM energy away from the axis of the structure into the open space surrounding the guided-wave device. There are two categories of device which it is desired to model in this programme: optical guided-wave devices undergoing second-harmonic generation,and microwave co-planar transmission lines supporting KdV-like solitons. In both cases the devices are expected to be many thousands of wavelengths in length along the paraxial propagation direction, and parallel processing is essential to model devices in reasonable execution times. The programmes for this project already exist and have been run on parallel processing machines, including the CM-200 at EPCC. The workplan would therefore consist of: familiarisation with existing code (if necessary) (2 weeks); porting the code onto the Cray T3D (2 weeks); calibrating its performance on benchmark problems (2 weeks); studying the implementation in the parallel environment of various strategies for the imposition of radiative boundary conditions (2 weeks, or 4 weeks if the familiarisation phase is not required by a student who already knows the code).

Resources

Resources supplied

References

Masoudi, H. M. and Arnold, J. M.: 'Modelling second-order nonlinear effects in optical waveguides using a parallel processing beam propagation method', IEEE J. Quant. Elect., 31, 2107-2113, 1995.

Stephane Decaluwe worked on this project.

Compressed PostScript of the project's final report is available here (246 kbytes) .

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