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Which Module To Use ACDC RF WaveOptics PDF
Which Module To Use ACDC RF WaveOptics PDF
Which Module To Use ACDC RF WaveOptics PDF
A question we get asked all of the time is: “Which of the COMSOL products should be used
for modeling a particular electromagnetic device or application?” There are currently six
modules labeled as “Electrical” in the product suite; the AC/DC Module, RF Module, Wave
Optics Module, MEMS Module, Plasma Module, and Semiconductor Module. The first four
address applications purely governed by various forms of Maxwell’s equations, while the
Plasma Module addresses the coupling of electromagnetic fields to plasma transport and
chemistry, and the Semiconductor Module solves the drift-diffusion equations for electrons
and holes. If you are interested in solving Maxwell’s equations alone, then any one (or several)
of the first four modules, or even the core package alone, will be of use to you. Here, I will help
you choose which module to use for your particular computational electromagnetics modeling
projects, and point out some example models along the way.
To solve these equations we need a set of boundary conditions, as well as material constitutive
relations that relate the to the field, the to the field, and the to the field.
Under varying assumptions, these equations are solved in the different modules within the
COMSOL product suite. (Note: Most of the equations presented here are shown in an abbreviated
form to convey the key concepts. To see the full form of all governing equations, and to see all of the
various constitutive relationships available, please consult the Product Documentation.)
This equation is solved for the voltage field, , which is used to compute the electric field,
, and the current, , where is the material conductivity. This Stationary
Electric Currents interface, available in COMSOL Multiphysics, is appropriate for computing the
steady-state current flow through conductive devices, as shown in the Pacemaker Electrode
(http://www.comsol.com/model/pacemaker-electrode-471) model.
Under the assumption that we are interested in the electric fields in perfectly insulating media
with material permittivity , Maxwell’s equations can be re-written as:
This Electrostatic interface is also available in COMSOL Multiphysics, and it’s appropriate for
computing the electrostatic fields around devices, such as capacitors.
This stationary equation solves for the voltage field in the frequency domain, and the
displacement currents become: .
The above two equations are the Time Dependent and Frequency Domain forms of the Electric
Currents interface, and are available in both the AC/DC and MEMS modules. These add-on
products also offer additional boundary conditions for modeling sources, periodicity, and
surfaces of constant potential, as well as modeling thin layers of material that are highly
conductive (http://www.comsol.com/model/electric-shielding-comparison-12623), highly
resistive (http://www.comsol.com/model/contact-impedance-comparison-12621), strong
dielectrics (http://www.comsol.com/model/dielectric-shielding-comparison-12625), or
relatively weak dielectrics (http://www.comsol.com/model/thin-low-permittivity-gap-
comparison-12651) that can also be used for stationary models. The MEMS Module also offers
interfaces for electrostatic actuation and piezoelectric material modeling.
Where is the material permeability and . This form is appropriate if you are
computing magnetic fields and flux lines around magnets and magnetically permeable
materials. An example of this is seen in the Magnetic Field from a Permanent Magnet
(http://www.comsol.com/model/the-magnetic-field-from-a-permanent-magnet-78) model.
On the other hand, if you wish to compute magnetic fields due to current flow
(http://www.comsol.com/model/magnetic-field-of-a-helmholtz-coil-15), then the Magnetic
Fields or Magnetic and Electric Fields interface is appropriate. These interfaces solve for the
magnetic vector potential, :
The magnetic vector potential can be used to compute . The source current, ,
can either be imposed or computed by simultaneously solving the electric currents equation
described earlier.
This solves for the magnetic fields, the electric fields , as well as the induced
currents, .
The above equation is quite similar to the Electromagnetic Waves, Frequency Domain interface
offered in both the RF and the Wave Optics modules, shown below:
There are, however, some significant practical differences between these two.
The Electromagnetic Waves, Frequency Domain form assumes that the resultant fields will be
“wave-like” — that the power transfer will occur primarily via radiation. This allows us to
implement features such as the Scattering Boundary Condition and Perfectly Matched Layers,
which are used to model boundaries to free space. This formulation can capture both near-
field and far-field effects around antennas (http://www.comsol.com/model/microstrip-patch-
antenna-11742), resonant coils (http://www.comsol.com/model/modeling-of-an-rf-coil-6126),
waveguides (http://www.comsol.com/model/coplanar-waveguide-cpw-bandpass-filter-
12099), and scatterers (http://www.comsol.com/model/computing-the-radar-cross-section-
of-a-perfectly-conducting-sphere-10332). Additional boundary conditions such as Rectangular,
Coaxial, and Circular Ports can model a junction to a microwave waveguide structure, and
Numeric Ports can be used for modeling dielectric waveguides
(http://www.comsol.com/model/dielectric-slab-waveguide-14709). The solvers are also tuned
to deal with equations that are of this form. The RF Module and Wave Optics Module can also
reformulate this equation as an Eigenfrequency problem, if you are interested in finding the
resonant frequencies of a device.
The frequency domain Magnetic Fields form and its set of boundary and domain conditions on
the other hand, is more adopted to when the fields are “quasi-static” — that is, when the
solution will look similar to the static solution, but have some contribution due to the time-
varying fields. This formulation can capture near-field effects, such as induced currents in
metal objects near current-carrying coils (http://www.comsol.com/model/multi-turn-coil-over-
an-asymmetric-conductor-plate-13777) or mutual inductance between coils
(http://www.comsol.com/model/mutual-inductance-and-induced-currents-in-a-multi-turn-
coil-12687). The electric and magnetic fields around the object being modeled are assumed to
fall off exponentially with distance. This admits features such as Infinite Elements, which are
useful for truncating modeling domains. The boundary conditions such as voltage and current
excitations are more characteristic of low-frequency applications. The solvers in the AC/DC
Module are also tuned for such equations.
For objects much larger than the wavelength, the Wave Optics Module can be appropriate.
The Wave Optics Module solves the same electromagnetic wave equation as the RF Module,
but in addition it also offers a Beam Envelope interface, which solves a slightly different
equation:
This equation takes as input a wave vector, , which defines the average local wave vector
within the modeling space. That is, you must know ahead of time the average direction of the
wave. This is often the case for photonic devices such as waveguides, couplers, and
interferometers. The huge advantage of this formulation is that you can use a very coarse
mesh in the regions where the beam envelope is varying slowly. For example, to model the
fields propagating down a uniform fiber optic cable, the cross-section of the fiber would need
to be meshed finely enough to resolve the mode shape, but the length of the fiber could be
modeled with only a single element, regardless of length! Of course, in regions where the wave
rapidly changes directions, or scatters in multiple directions, a finer mesh is needed, and the
computational requirements will approach that of the Electromagnetic Wave formulation. In
practice, the Beam Envelope interface is useful when the average local direction of propagation
is known, and the field intensity varies slowly. Under those conditions, you can model domains
of length such as a directional coupler
(http://www.comsol.com/model/directional-coupler-14593), for example.
This figure illustrates the range of applicability of the AC/DC, RF, and Wave Optics Modules,
based on the operating frequency. Keep in mind that all of these boundaries between modules
are a bit “fuzzy”. Although the chart is truncated at 1 km, you can certainly analyze larger
systems, if you wish.
Categories
Electrical (/blogs/category/all/electrical/)
Post Tags
AC/DC Module (/blogs/tag/acdc-module/) MEMS Module (/blogs/tag/mems-
module/) Plasma Module (/blogs/tag/plasma-module/) RF Module (/blogs/tag/rf-
module/) Semiconductor Module (/blogs/tag/semiconductor-module/) Technical
Content (/blogs/tag/technical-content/) Wave Optics Module (/blogs/tag/wave-optics-
module/)
Comments
This article is really helpful to understand which module should be chosen. Keep updating
us.