A Brief Overview of the PCGrate-S(X) Series  

 

PCGrate^®-S(X) v.6.4 32/64-bit calculates the diffraction efficiency and near-zone diffraction field for such kinds of 1-D reflection and transmission relief & phase gratings (holographic, ruled, and others) and 1-D & 2-D photonic crystals as those with arbitrary shape multilayer (that have different borders or non-uniform vertical thicknesses along the grating period), variable groove depth or/and space, concave & convex, in conical mounts, irradiated by non-planar waves, in general polarization states, with various periodical & random layers' roughnesses, and in a super wide spectral region. The rigorous boundary integral equation method⁵ employed in the analysis of diffraction grating efficiency³ is extended here to the case of non-periodical structures of any kind and non-function border profiles. A tool for random asperities generating, in particular with Gaussian correlation function, is included (see Figure #27) with a possibility to add microroughness on one facet (part) of a border profile (see Figure #15). The updated PCGrate 6.4 Border Profile Editor has new features to generate rough border profiless of any kind and border profiles of the cubic spline type. The software has two independent multilayer solvers, which are based on different calculation schemes.  

The PCGrate 6.4 32/64-bit Separating solver is based on the newly developed single-boundary integral-equation Scattering solver and the Scattering-matrix approach to multilayer diffraction.^28,32 By the definition, it requires homogeneous media separated two adjacent corrugated regions by fictitious planes (see Figure #30). The distance between such planes may be arbitrary including very close to zero. The Separating solver is primarily intended for efficiency calculations of dielectric rods of arbitrary shape and refractive index such as 2-D photonic crystals, any uncoated gratings including rough ones, and specific types of coated gratings and mirrors. It is indispensable for the x-ray-VUV gratings and mirrors covered with one or many plane or rather thick conformal coatings and, especially, for grazing incidence.  

The earlier implemented and now improved the PCGrate 6.4 32/64-bit Penetrating solver is based on the multi-boundary marching scheme^2,35 and it doesn't require a separation between two adjacent corrugated regions (see Figure #31).⁴ This is vital in the modeling of many coated gratings (echelles, multilayer x-ray-VUV, thin-oxidized, etc.). So, the Penetrating solver is more general in this sense. In the PCGrate-S(X) v. 6.3 program the default solver type is Penetrating. As a rule, the Penetrating solver takes more time than Separating one to solve such problems due to considering the absolute plane border as a corrugated boundary and solving the integral equations on each physical boundary (it also depends on number of +/- terms/orders taking into account).  

 

PCGrate^®-S(X) v.6.1 32-bit makes it possible to calculate the diffraction efficiency and the near-zone diffraction field for 1-D reflection and transmission relief & phase gratings (holographic, ruled, and others) with arbitrary shape multilayers which have different borders or non-uniform vertical thickness along the grating period, concave or convex gratings, and gratings in conical mounts. It can also be used for calculations in the case of gratings irradiated by non-planar waves, in a general polarization state, gratings with periodic or/and random layers' roughnesses, and working in a very wide spectral region. It allows calculation of multilayer resonance cases at a high speed by using the self-acting smart internal cache of the program and by solving in parallel with multi- core/processor systems.  

 

The Limits and Constraints of Series and Types of the PCGrate^®-S(X) Software  

 

PCGrate®-S(X) v.6.1 32-bit and PCGrate®-S(X) v.6.4 32/64-bit have two series: S and SX; and each series have three types: PCGrate®-S(X) GUI, PCGrate®-S(X) XML and PCGrate®-S(X) Complete. PCGrate®-S series have the minimal value of the wavelength-to-period ratio λ/d of 0.02 and the maximal number of layers of the grating surface multilayer material of 20. PCGrate®-SX series have the minimal value of the wavelength λ of 0.01 nm (there is no a restriction on wavelength-to-period ratios) and the maximal number of layers of the grating surface multilayer material of 5 000 (10 000 for v. 6.4). The PCGrate-S(X) XML and PCGrate-S(X) Complete types make it possible to calculate the grating efficiency from the command line with input/output data in XML format. The PCGrate-S(X) GUI and PCGrate-S(X) Complete types make it possible to obtain the calculated data using the Graphical User Interface and work with the results including saving, coping, exporting, plotting, printing, etc. The type is determined by the HASP® HL USB key, which is shipped with the product.  

 

*All programs have a GUI-->XML converter of input data.  

**The one-year free technical support is given with all products of the PCGrate-S(X) v.6.1 32-bit Series.  

 

*All programs have a GUI-->XML converter of input data.  

**The one-year warranty (errors fixed at no charge) and one-year free updates & technical support are given with all products of the PCGrate-S(X) v.6.4 32/64-bit Series.  

 

Hardware Requirements of the PCGrate-S(X) v.6.1 Series  

 

The PCGrate-S(X) v. 6.1 32-bit software for Microsoft^® Windows^® 32/64-bit requires:  

 

Hardware Requirements of the PCGrate-S(X) v.6.4 32/64-bit Series  

 

The PCGrate-S(X) v.6.4 32/64-bit software for Microsoft^® Windows^® 32/64-bit requires: