state of polarization issue of modulator components within interconnect

- December 25, 2023 at 8:06 am
  
  Howie Fong
  Subscriber
  
  Hi everyone,
  Recently, I encountered an issue while designing modulators. Why don't the modulator devices in INTERCONNECT distinguish between TE/TM modes? For instance, in devices such as the "Optical Modulator," "Optical Ring," and "M-Z Modulator," the actual phase change induced by the modulation signal should differ slightly between the TE and TM modes. However, we cannot modify the device parameters to account for different polarization states. What is the reason behind this design choice? Additionally, how should I configure the system if I aim to consider the polarization state issues of the modulator?
  I am looking forward to your response!
- January 6, 2024 at 1:15 am
  
  Kyle
  Ansys Employee
  
  Hello, the active components generally only have a single set of data for all modes. I'm not sure what the original reasoning behind this was, I would assume it was for simplicity. If you like, you can submit a feature request for this here: Ideas (lumerical.com)
  I think the simplest way to do a simulation with different properties for each mode in the active components would be to make separate circuits for each mode. Do you think this would work for your application?