The complex Jacobi iterative method for three-dimensional wide-angle beam propagation

A new complex Jacobi iterative technique adapted for the solution of three-dimensional (3D) wide-angle (WA) beam propagation is presented. The beam propagation equation for analysis of optical propagation in waveguide structures is based on a novel modified Pade(1,1) approximant operator, which gives evanescent waves the desired damping. The resulting approach allows more accurate approximations to the true Helmholtz equation than the standard Pade approximant operators. Furthermore, a performance comparison of the traditional direct matrix inversion and this new iterative technique for WA-beam propagation method is reported. It is shown that complex Jacobi iteration is faster and better-suited for large problems or structures than direct matrix inversion. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America