Improving the design cycle for nanophotonic components

We present IPKISS, a software framework that greatly simplifies the design of nanophotonic components. In this approach, all steps in the workflow are based on a single high-level definition of the component, in a Python script. Because there is only one description, the design flow becomes less error prone due to incorrect definitions, and the overall reproducibility is greatly improved.Furthermore it enables easy closed-loop modeling of components and circuits. Also, previous work can easily be built upon because lower level blocks can seamlessly be replaced by new blocks. While we illustrate the application in photonics, this software and the used design patterns can be extended to other domains such as RF design and to multidomain physics such as opto-electronics.