photonic devices, before moving on to simulating simple waveguides using Lumerical. Using Lumerical, we conducted literature reviews on directional couplers, interlayer couplers and polarization rotator-splitters. From this literature review, we simulated and optimised the parameters of significance of these devices.
This was my first time researching in the field of silicon photonics and simulations using Lumerical, a high performance photonic simulation software. I spent a lot of time in the first two weeks familiarising myself with the theory behind silicon photonic devices and using Lumerical. Thanks to Dr. Ong Junrong and Dr. Thomas Ang from IHPC, we were provided with many reference texts and an online course on Lumerical to equip us the required knowledge during the internship. Our task was to simulate and optimise fabrication parameters for an interlayer coupler and a polarisation rotator-splitter.
Q: What/Who is your inspiration in life?
I was inspired by my teacher from Meridian Junior College, who taught me that life is a process of making ‘better’ mistakes and learning from them. He makes it a point to learn one new thing or try one new thing in a year and I was impressed at the unconventional experiences he accumulated; i.e., he tried skydiving, skateboarding, and even picked up skills of a clown.
-jpg.jpeg?sfvrsn=c11cc208_0 "Jennifer Tanadi (2).jpg")
Group photo with my Japanese language class teacher and classmates. Able to spot me?
Q: Describe a typical work week.
A typical work week involved running simulations on the assigned device. As this internship was our first time handling silicon photonic devices as well as using Lumerical, there were a lot of troubleshooting involved while running simulations. Thankfully, my supervisors Dr. Ong and Dr. Thomas were very helpful and knowledgeable hence we often consulted them with our questions via short discussions in office. We also had regular meetings once every 3 weeks to update our progress and chart our path forwards.
Q: How has this internship benefits you?
This internship opened my eyes to the field of optics and photonics simulation and allowed me to develop my skills in simulating silicon photonic devices with Lumerical. It also gave me a firsthand experience regarding how working in scientific research feels like. A*STAR is a major research organisation, thus getting to know the process of how research is done was very illuminating.