Optical Design Tools For Photonics Engineering Education (original) (raw)
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Photonic Simulation Software Tools for Education
Education and Training in Optics and Photonics, 2007
A solid education in optical devices and optical communication systems must include an understanding of the basic building blocks of optical devices and networks as well as the interplay between them. Software vendors, such as Optiwave Systems Inc., provide free as well as for-purchase software tools that can be used in classroom and computer labs as an educational aid. This paper examines the role software simulation tools play in the education of students studying optical communication and related disciplines. The different techniques to employ photonic simulation software in classroom lectures, computer labs and graduate research are discussed.
Modeling and Design Photonics by Examples Using MATLAB
has been involved for over 50 years in lens design, optical systems design, electro-optical systems engineering, and photonics. He has been a faculty member at three academic institutions engaged in optics education and research, employed by a number of companies, and provided consulting services. Dr Johnson is an IOP Fellow, SPIE Fellow and Life Member, OSA Fellow, and was the 1987 President of SPIE. He serves on the editorial board of Infrared Physics & Technology and Advances in Optical Technologies. Dr Johnson has been awarded many patents, has published numerous papers and several books and book chapters, and was awarded the 2012 OSA/SPIE Joseph W Goodman Book Writing Award for Lens Design Fundamentals, Second Edition. He is a perennial co-chair of the annual SPIE Current Developments in Lens Design and Optical Engineering Conference.
Web-based interactive simulations and virtual lab for photonics education
Fifteenth Conference on Education and Training in Optics and Photonics: ETOP 2019, 2019
There is large industry demand for qualified engineers and technicians in photonics advanced manufacturing. Current workforce training methods require expensive state-of-the-art laboratory equipment, as well as commercial licenses for photonic design software, which can be prohibitively costly for many universities. Virtual laboratories and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) can help fill this training gap by providing a scalable approach to photonics workforce education for an international audience. In this project, AIM Photonics Academy-the education initiative of AIM Photonics, a Manufacturing USA Institute-is creating a virtual laboratory to enable self-directed learning for the emerging photonics workforce. Students learn photonic device and circuit modeling in a 3D online virtual lab environment with interactive simulations of micron-scale photonic visualizations. An intuitive interface highlights the most critical device design parameters and their optimal operational settings for applications in Datacom, wireless communication, sensing, and imaging. Simulations include silicon waveguide propagation and loss, radial waveguide bends, and directional couplers for photonic integrated circuits (PICs). In spring of 2019, AIM Academy has integrated these simulations into an online course focused on PIC-chip design, with a fundamentals course expected in fall of 2019. Additionally, these online tools will be used in a blended learning curriculum in 2020 to train engineers and technicians in semiconductor design, testing and packaging for photonics applications. Following online module completion, students can take blended learning on-site workshops at affiliated university laboratories to capitalize on their simulated training with hands-on experiments in chip design, packaging, and optical or electrical testing.
Web-based photonics simulator for secondary school students
In the "real world", Photonics is somewhat invisible to those who rely upon it worldwide. We would like students to connect their everyday experiences of communications with the underlying ideas in Photonics. To do this, we have developed the Photonics Simulator to illustrate to high school students how text or information is coded into binary optical signals which are relayed through photonic communications networks from sender to receiver.
Two Simulators for Photonic Computer-Aided Design
Applied Optics, 1998
The computer-aided design of photonic systems offers many advantages for systems design, optimization, and planning. We present a comparison of two simulation packages for photonic-device, circuit, and system design. Both were developed by the Australian Photonics Cooperative Research Centre: the optoelectronic, photonic, and advanced laser simulator performs step-by-step simulations on complex photonic devices, circuits, and systems, allowing for backward waves and compound resonators; the gigabit optical link designer uses block processing of periodic waveforms to give an efficient estimation of eye diagrams and bit-error rates of time-division-multiplexed and wavelength-division-multiplexed systems. The gigabit optical link designer and the optoelectronic, photonic advanced laser simulator are compared, and examples of typical applications are given.
2012
In our community outreach activities, we have been developing teaching tools to inform high school students about Optics and Photonics. While there is research supporting the idea that incorporating computer games into education can create a 'strong cognitive effect', others suggest that games should merely be used as a teaching tool, rather than as a primary vehicle for teaching. Thus we chose to develop an open-ended Photonics Simulator using Flash, employing photonic components as building blocks to form a communications system, within a classroom lesson including an illustrated talk with a simple optical fibre demonstration. The virtual photonics components have the same properties as the devices used in actual telecommunications links and in our research laboratories. The software is available to download. We trialled the Photonics Simulator during a single lesson (lessons ranged from 50 minutes to 90 minutes) with five Year 9 or Year 10 classes (from three schools -coeducational, girls only and boys only) during 2007. We gave them a short survey before the lesson to establish their level of knowledge of photonics, and then administered a slightly longer survey, including some repeated questions, after the lesson. The level of knowledge of photonics was significantly improved in every class and in every subgroup tested. (For example answers on 'the function of an optical amplifier' improved from 40% correct/partly correct to 70% correct/partly correct). Furthermore, the 'hands-on' nature of the simulator was effective in engaging the students, (94% 'enjoyed playing the game') and showing them the basis of the communications systems that underpin the Internet. Copyright© 2008
OptoSci educator kits – an immediate solution to photonics teaching laboratories
Education and Training in Optics and Photonics, 2003
The burgeoning growth of the worldwide photonics and optical communications industry has imposed ever increasing demands on the supply of suitably skilled engineers and scientists who can design, install and operate modern photonics systems. In recognition of this need OptoSci, in collaboration with university academics, has commercially developed a series of hardware based teaching packages in optics, optoelectronics and optical communications. Each educator kit is fully self-contained, including all of the optoelectronic hardware and comprehensive literature support. This saves the academic tutor considerable development time and enables the kits to be immediately installed in the photonics teaching laboratory to support accompanying lecture courses. A fundamental design objective of our educator kits is to provide students with hands-on practical experience of photonics components, instruments and systems and allow them to investigate essential physical principles and key technical issues relevant to their lecture courses. This paper will outline the design philosophy behind the products to meet the desired educational aims, and then examine the specific educational objectives and topics investigated in each educator kit.
Multimedia courseware: applied photonics
47th International Symposium ELMAR, 2005., 2005
This paper presents development work to design multimedia courseware: Applied Photonics. This courseware is based on: 1) multimedia document about the basic theory of Applied Photonics; 2) simulation and measurement supporting multimedia programme package able solving selected CAD and CAE problems in Applied Photonics. As special application of practical session web-based interactive fiber optic instrument is described in details.
Java Enabled Opto Electronic Learning Tools And A Supporting Framework
2001 Annual Conference Proceedings
The use of multimedia tools over the World Wide Web is an extremely desirable instructional method. Unintentionally this has created a maze of online tutorials and demonstrations with huge amounts of information in disarray. In addition, Cognitive theories, like Active Learning and Experiential Learning, applicable to the engineering domain, sermonize modeling, problem resolution and problem visualization as the key elements in instruction. In this paper, we present some of our work on building user configurable Java Applets for education in photonics (lasers and optics). These include design Applets for laser principles that illustrate optical ray tracing systems, population inversion, and 3-D visualization of optical polarization. This paper focuses on the design and implementation of user-controlled context based educational resources. A design-based learning experience using Java Applets and the multiple facets of the design and development of such a software system is described. Specifically, an initial object-oriented framework that emphasizes key elements of design like reusability, flexibility, modularity and extensibility is provided. This framework is developed for the design of educational Java Applets that provide user configurable simulation environments. The six key elements of the framework are: Components, Strategy objects, Singleton objects, Visitor objects, Toolkits and Containers. Moreover, methods to initialize Applets using design windows and HTML tags are presented. This framework provides basic guidelines for developing userconfigurable Java simulation environments for use in any science or engineering field.
Photonics laboratory teaching experiments for scientists and engineers
SPIE Proceedings, 2002
In response to industry's need for scientists and engineers skilled in the design, manufacture and operation of photonics systems, Strathclyde University and OptoSci Ltd. have developed a suite of Photonics Educator Kits, which enable students to experimentally investigate all of the major technical features, principles and design issues of optical waveguides, optical communications systems, erbium doped fiber amplifiers and lasers. To support these applications experiments we have recently added a range ofkits enabling students to experimentally investigate the basics of physical optics covering reflection, refraction, polarisation, diffraction, coherence and interference. In this paper, we will describe the educational objectives and the design philosophies behind the development of these kits. To illustrate these, full details of the experimental procedures, the results and the benefits to the student will be discussed for the recently upgraded optical communications kit and the erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) system, in particular addressing the crucially important noise characteristics of optical amplifiers. 1. INI'RODUCTION Modern Optics and Photonics currently drive major technical advancement in such a diversity of technologies as telecommunications, measurement science, industrial and environmental sensing, medical diagnostics and bio-sciences. In particular, the world's main trunk telecommunications systems, the global internet and mobile phone communications systems are all founded on Photonics networks. Companies operating in these fields have an ever increasing demand for highly skilled scientists and engineers who can design, build, analyse, install and operate photonic systems. There is no doubt that the learning experience ofthese professional technologists is greatly enhanced during their graduate or undergraduate studies by exposure to hands on, practical experience of photonics components and systems. Strathclyde University, in collaboration with OptoSci Ltd., have developed a suite of Photonics Educator Kits which enable students to experimentally investigate all of the major technical features, principles and design issues of optical waveguides, optical communications systems, erbium doped fiber amplifiers and lasers. These applications kits are now supported by a range of experiments examining the fundamentals of physical optics, covering reflection, refraction, polarisation, diffraction, coherence and interference. In the development of all of these systems we adhere to a strict design philosophy and procedure, which ensures that all ofthe important educational objectives are met. A working knowledge and understanding of the components of a fiber optic communications system and the limits imposed on the system performance by the component characteristics are invaluable for any student going on to work with photonic systems. Hence, two of the most important kits address optical communications systems and their component parts including optical amplifiers. Details of a previous version of the optical communications system kit and some aspects ofthe EDFA kit have been reported in the past1'2 Recently, we have upgraded the communications kit to use 62.5/125pm graded index fiber (replacing the multi mode step index fiber). This enables the students to more clearly explore the separate effects of material and modal dispersion and their effects on the system performance. The most important characteristic of optical amplifiers as regards the limitations they impose on system performance is noise. Recent adaptations to the EDFA kit enable students to investigate the noise characteristics of the amplifier and simple exercises based on their noise measurements allow them to appreciate the effects of amplifier noise on the overall system performance. Here we describe these two kits in detail covering educational objectives, design philosophies, the hardware involved, the experimental procedures followed by students and sample results. For the EDFA kit we will concentrate on the noise characteristics as the gain characteristics have been addressed in previous publications1' 2