Core Concepts
sCWatter is an open-source software that uses coupled wave theory to efficiently simulate and visualize the 3D electric field scattered by complex samples, enabling accurate modeling of light-sample interactions for applications in spectroscopy and microscopy.
Abstract
The paper presents sCWatter, an open-source software that utilizes coupled wave theory (CWT) to simulate and visualize the 3D electric field scattered by complex samples. CWT represents the sample and field as a Fourier expansion, enabling efficient parallel processing and simulation of light-sample interactions.
Key highlights:
sCWatter can accurately model diffraction and interference effects that dominate when feature sizes approach the wavelength, overcoming limitations of ray tracing approaches.
The software leverages parallel computing and high-performance libraries to enable efficient simulation of complex samples and imaging systems using consumer hardware.
The paper introduces connection equations that significantly reduce the dimensionality of the CW linear system, enabling faster field simulation and visualization.
sCWatter can be used to model a range of microscopy techniques, including interferometry, spectroscopy, and nonlinear optics, which rely on complex light-sample interactions.
The authors provide a detailed theoretical background on CWT, including the discretization of the electric field and sample, derivation of the property matrix, and the formulation of connection equations to solve for the external field coefficients. The implementation details on calculating Fourier coefficients, solving the linear system, and computing the internal and external fields are also discussed.
Stats
The sample refractive index is specified on a volumetric grid, while the incident field is provided as a 2D image orthogonal to the optical path.
Quotes
"Several emerging microscopy imaging methods rely on complex interactions between the incident light and the sample. These include interferometry, spectroscopy, and nonlinear optics."
"Fast approaches like ray tracing and the Born approximation have limitations that are limited when working with high numerical apertures."
"By leveraging parallel computing and high-performance libraries, we are able to simulate the imaging process for a range of complex samples and imaging systems using inexpensive consumer hardware."