No Arabic abstract
A computational nanophotonic design library for gradient-based optimization called SPINS is presented. Borrowing the concept of computational graphs, SPINS is a design framework that emphasizes flexibility and reproducible results. The mathematical and architectural details to achieve these goals are presented, and practical considerations and heuristics for using inverse design are discussed, including the choice of initial condition and the landscape of local minima.
Inverse design algorithms are the basis for realizing high-performance, freeform nanophotonic devices. Current methods to enforce geometric constraints, such as practical fabrication constraints, are heuristic and not robust. In this work, we show that hard geometric constraints can be imposed on inverse-designed devices by reparameterizing the design space itself. Instead of evaluating and modifying devices in the physical device space, candidate device layouts are defined in a constraint-free latent space and mathematically transformed to the physical device space, which robustly imposes geometric constraints. Modifications to the physical devices, specified by inverse design algorithms, are made to their latent space representations using backpropagation. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, we apply reparameterization to enforce strict minimum feature size constraints in local and global topology optimizers for metagratings. We anticipate that concepts in reparameterization will provide a general and meaningful platform to incorporate physics and physical constraints in any gradient-based optimizer, including machine learning-enabled global optimizers.
The development of inverse design, where computational optimization techniques are used to design devices based on certain specifications, has led to the discovery of many compact, non-intuitive structures with superior performance. Among various methods, large-scale, gradient-based optimization techniques have been one of the most important ways to design a structure containing a vast number of degrees of freedom. These techniques are made possible by the adjoint method, in which the gradient of an objective function with respect to all design degrees of freedom can be computed using only two full-field simulations. However, this approach has so far mostly been applied to linear photonic devices. Here, we present an extension of this method to modeling nonlinear devices in the frequency domain, with the nonlinear response directly included in the gradient computation. As illustrations, we use the method to devise compact photonic switches in a Kerr nonlinear material, in which low-power and high-power pulses are routed in different directions. Our technique may lead to the development of novel compact nonlinear photonic devices.
Purpose: To understand the influence of various acquisition parameters on the ability of CEST MR-Fingerprinting (MRF) to discriminate different chemical exchange parameters and to provide tools for optimal acquisition schedule design and parameter map reconstruction. Methods: Numerical simulations were conducted using a parallel-computing implementation of the Bloch-McConnell equations, examining the effect of TR, TE, flip-angle, water T$_{1}$ and T$_{2}$, saturation-pulse duration, power, and frequency on the discrimination ability of CEST-MRF. A modified Euclidean-distance matching metric was evaluated and compared to traditional dot-product matching. L-Arginine phantoms of various concentrations and pH were scanned at 4.7T and the results compared to numerical findings. Results: Simulations for dot-product matching demonstrated that the optimal flip-angle and saturation times are 30$^{circ}$ and 1100 ms, respectively. The optimal maximal saturation power was 3.4 $mu$T for concentrated solutes with a slow exchange-rate, and 5.2 $mu$T for dilute solutes with medium-to-fast exchange-rates. Using the Euclidean-distance matching metric, much lower maximum saturation powers were required (1.6 and 2.4 $mu$T, respectively), with a slightly longer saturation time (1500 ms) and 90$^{circ}$ flip-angle. For both matching metrics, the discrimination ability increased with the repetition time. The experimental results were in agreement with simulations, demonstrating that more than a 50% reduction in scan-time can be achieved by Euclidean-distance-based matching. Conclusion: Optimization of the CEST-MRF acquisition schedule is critical for obtaining the best exchange parameter accuracy. The use of Euclidean-distance-based matching of signal trajectories simultaneously improved the discrimination ability and reduced the scan time and maximal saturation power required.
The field of magnonics offers a new type of low-power information processing, in which magnons, the quanta of spin waves, carry and process data instead of electrons. Many magnonic devices were demonstrated recently, but the development of each of them requires specialized investigations and, usually, one device design is suitable for one function only. Here, we introduce the method of inverse-design magnonics, in which any functionality can be specified first, and a feedback-based computational algorithm is used to obtain the device design. Our proof-of-concept prototype is based on a rectangular ferromagnetic area which can be patterned using square shaped voids. To demonstrate the universality of this approach, we explore linear, nonlinear and nonreciprocal magnonic functionalities and use the same algorithm to create a magnonic (de-)multiplexer, a nonlinear switch and a circulator. Thus, inverse-design magnonics can be used to develop highly efficient rf applications as well as Boolean and neuromorphic computing building blocks.
We present a gradient-based optimization strategy to design broadband grating couplers. Using this method, we are able to reach, and often surpass, a user-specified target bandwidth during optimization. The designs produced for 220 nm silicon-on-insulator are capable of achieving 3 dB bandwidths exceeding 100 nm while maintaining central coupling efficiencies ranging from -3.0 dB to -5.4 dB, depending on partial-etch fraction. We fabricate a subset of these structures and experimentally demonstrate gratings with 3 dB bandwidths exceeding 120 nm. This inverse design approach provides a flexible design paradigm, allowing for the creation of broadband grating couplers without requiring constraints on grating geometry.