Reply To: Transmission Using TFSF source

[anna.wirth-singh]

Hello,

The normalization of the TFSF source can be tricky. Most transmission results are normalized to the power of the source, but this normalization may not be appropriate for the TFSF source. The fundamental problem is that an ideal plane wave has infinite power (since it has an infinite extent), while a single particle must absorb a finite amount of power. This article describes this issue and explains why normalizing to the source power can result in Transmission > 1: Tips and best practices when using the FDTD TFSF source – Ansys Optics

For the TFSF source, it may be more appropriate to normalize by the source source intensity rather than the source power. This page describes how to normalize by source intensity (note that special care should be taken if you will be injecting light at non-normal incidence): Understanding source normalization in the TFSF source – Ansys Optics

Do these resources answer your question?

Best,

Anna