Import Source in Ansys Lumerical FDTD — Lesson 7

Physics & Applications

There are situations where you want to inject a custom field. In this video lesson, you will learn how to import a custom field from a monitor or an equation and use it as a source.

Alternate video link.

Setup & Tips

In this video lesson, we will demonstrate how to set up the import source using a radially polarized beam example. You can download the script files and follow the steps shown below.

• Download Create Dataset Script File
• Download Setup Script File

Alternate video link.

Create a dataset containing the field profile data to import:

1. Load the FDTD_Sources_import_create_dataset.lsf script file and run the script in the script file editor.

Add an import source:

1. Click the arrow next to the “Sources” button in the main toolbar to open the drop-down menu.

2. Click the “Import” option which is the sixth in the list in the drop-down menu.

Load the field data into the import source:

1. Make sure that the source is selected in the Objects Tree window. If not, click on the source in the Objects Tree to select it.

2. Click the Edit button in the edit toolbar on the left (pencil icon), or use the 'E' keyboard shortcut to open the edit window.

3. Click the “Import Source” button in the General tab of the edit window.

4. In the file browser, select the “import_data.mat” file that was generated using the FDTD_Sources_import_create_dataset.lsf script file and click “Open.”

Plot the imported field data:

1. From the General tab, click “Visualize data.”

Set the source wavelength:

1. Under the Frequency/Wavelength tab, set wavelength start and wavelength stop to 0.5 microns.

Run the simulation and plot the injected field profile:

1. Click the “Run” menu from the simulation toolbar.

2. After the simulation has been completed, right-click the power monitor named “monitor” and select Visualize ->E from the context menu. Then, select the “vector” plot type to view a vector plot of the fields.