A New “Stepped Particle Swarm Optimization” for Inverse Design of Nanophotonic Devices

In this paper, we propose a new "stepped particle swarm optimization"(SPSO) for the reverse design of nanophotonic devices. Compared with the traditional "particle swarm optimization"(PSO), this method has a fast-rising speed, is easy to jump out of local extrema, and has a wide range of application prospects. It can break through the limitations brought by the traditional PSO and obtain better device performance. Also, the SPSO can be used in the structural design of a large number of optoelectronic devices, such as grating couplers, wavelength division multiplexers, mode multiplexers, mode converters, etc. The feasibility and advantages of SPSO are verified by the design of a subwavelength convergence grating that is monolithically integrated with the detector. The SPSO is of great significance in the design of nanophotonic devices with large parameter space.