By completely opening the parameter space in design of nanophotonic circuits, new functionalities and better performance relative to traditional optoelectronics approaches can be achieved. We have recently developed an inverse (objective first) approach to design nanophotonic structures only based on their desired performance. Moreover, constraints including structure robustness, fabrication error, and minimum feature sizes can be incorporated in design, without need to have an optics expert as a designer. Finally, such structures are fully fabricable using modern lithography and nanofabrication techniques. We have also demonstrated devices designed using this approach, including ultra-compact and efficient wavelength splitters on the silicon platform. Beyond integrated photonics, this approach can also be applied to design of quantum photonic circuits.
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