Summary — Lesson 6

Each structure object in the simulation is assigned a material. In the materials tab of the structure edit window, you can choose to use the <Object defined dielectric> material and type in the refractive index (can be spatially-varying), or select another material from the material database.

The (n,k) import object can also be used to specify a spatially-varying refractive index. More information can be found here.

Material database

• Lists the available materials
• Includes some common materials in optical range by default
• New materials can be added based on material models or sampled data
• Material models include permittivity models as well as conductivity models, nonlinear models,

Material explorer

• Used to check material fits that will be used in the simulation
• Shows material data for permittivity materials (refractive index, permittivity) and conductive materials (conductivity, resistivity) as a function of frequency or wavelength

Modeling dispersive materials and material fitting

• Material fitting is required for broadband simulations with dispersive materials
• The multi-coefficient model is used to generate fits for sampled data materials
• Material fitting settings can be adjusted to improve the fits

Advanced capabilities

• Anisotropy
• Index perturbation
• Material plugin framework