Beñat Martinez de Aguirre Jokisch

We demonstrate what is believed to be a new method that yields orders-of-magnitude acceleration in inverse design (e.g. topology optimization) of high- Q resonant cavities to maximize the local density of states (LDOS), and which is also applicable to other resonant-response metrics. The key idea is that, once conventional LDOS optimization has identified a strong resonance, subsequent optimizations can exploit a fast shift-invert eigensolver to ensure that the LDOS remains centered at the resonance peak. We show that this eliminates ill-conditioning at sharp resonances that otherwise dramatically slows LDOS (and similar) optimization for Q ≫ 100. Our method is demonstrated by design of Q > 10 ⁶ resonant cavities in 1d and 2d dielectric systems.

Precise spatial manipulation of particles via optical forces is essential in many research areas, ranging from biophysics to atomic physics. Central to this effort is the challenge of designing optical systems that are optimized for specific applications. Traditional design methods often rely on trial-and-error methods or on models that approximate the particle as a point dipole, which only works for particles much smaller than the wavelength of the electromagnetic field. In this work, we present a general inverse design framework based on the Maxwell stress tensor formalism capable of simultaneously designing all components of the system while being applicable to particles of arbitrary sizes and shapes. Notably, we show that with small modifications to the baseline formulation, it is possible to engineer systems capable of attracting, repelling, accelerating, oscillating, and trapping particles. We demonstrate our method using various case studies where we simultaneously design the particle and its environment, with a particular focus on free-space particles and particle–metalens systems.

Thermo-optical phase shifters (TOPSs) have emerged as an important building block in silicon photonics platforms due to their ability to dynamically control the optical phase of light. To enable wide-scale adoption in practical applications, it is paramount that TOPSs are optimized for low power consumption, low optical loss, small footprint, small thermal time constant, and easy fabrication, among other ideal characteristics. In the last decades, multiple designs have emerged from intuition and trial-and-error-based processes to match these objectives. In this work, we propose a topology optimization-based multiphysics inverse design framework for designing cross-sectionally compact low-optical-loss TOPS devices that can accommodate fabrication constraints. Results demonstrate the capability of tailoring novel designs with losses up to 33% lower than previously proposed designs.