Learning Forum

[Maximilian Mengler]

Hello,

I'm not exactly sure, that this is the place to ask this question, but I was directed here by the sales department.

I am trying to work in the design of photonic chips with the PDK from Fraunhofer HHI and simulate my designs with Luceda. My problem is, that there are no models for the components included in the PDK, and there are also no layouts specified, as it is a black box PDK. I was referred to Ansys by the HHI and was told, that it is possible to simulate the PDK components with Ansys software.

My question now is, is this the case, even though the PDK does not specify the components layout? And if so, which software would I need?

Best Regards,

Max

[Kyle]

Hello Max,

If the foundry provides INTERCONNECT models in their PDK then you can perform circuit-level simulations with the foundry components in Lumerical INTERCONNECT. These are compact models (behavioural models), so they don't contain layout information. I'm guessing that this is what HHI was referring to. These models would be provided in a compact model library (CML) file with a .cml extension. This library can be imported into INTERCONNECT following the instructions on this page: Install Compact Model Library – Ansys Optics

Note that the PDKs are created by the foundries, not Ansys. We don't necessarily know what is in them and we don't have access to them. The foundry should provide information on what types of models they include in their PDK and how to use them. We can help with general questions about our software, but questions about the models in the PDK should be addressed to the foundry.