Photonics Python Packages

femwell

FEM mode solver for photonic waveguides

ceviche-challenges

A suite of photonic inverse design challenge problems for topology optimization benchmarking

pmcxcl

Monte Carlo eXtreme for OpenCL (MCXCL)

treams-rs

A Rust port of treams with a Python interface and analytic gradients.

maiman

Open-source, modular simulator for optical communication links and photonic systems: Python engine and API with a visual studio. 77 components, 48 lessons, validated against published results

pyfibermodes

Python toolkit for guided-mode analysis and design of circular step-index and multilayer optical fibers.

pmmc

Mesh-based Monte Carlo (MMC)

blaze2d

A Rust-based 2D PWE Maxwell solver architected specifically for massive parameter sweeps. It significantly outperforms MIT's MPB while achieving a similar accuracy.

lightwave2d

Unit-aware Python toolkit for 2D FDTD simulations of electromagnetic wave propagation, scattering, diffraction, and photonic structures.

beamz

GPU-accelerated FDTD Python framework for 2D/3D electromagnetic simulation and photonic inverse design.

slmsuite

Python package for high-performance spatial light modulator (SLM) control and holography. Supports features from aberration-corrected 3D point clouds to automated Fourier-domain calibrations.

fabtwin

Learned generative process twins for yield-aware inverse design of multilayer optics: exact TMM with a hand-derived adjoint, pathwise CVaR robustification through twin and physics

pymiesimx

Interactive web app for Mie scattering simulations with PyMieSim: explore particles, scan parameters, and calculate ensemble optical properties.

generaltmm

General 4×4 transfer-matrix method (TMM) for optical simulations of isotropic and anisotropic multilayer structures. C++ core with Python bindings.

fdtd

A 3D electromagnetic FDTD simulator written in Python with optional GPU support

legume-gme

🌱 Guided-mode expansion of photonic crystal slabs

librosette

Photonics design tools for agents

deeptrack

DeepTrack2 is a modular Python library for generating, manipulating, and analyzing image data pipelines for machine learning and experimental imaging.

modesolverpy

Photonic mode solver with a simple interface.

prefab

Artificial nanofabrication of integrated photonic circuits

cuwave

Single-GPU, differentiable higher-order finite difference wave propagation in Python: intended for inverse problems and structural optimization, e.g., full waveform inversion and transient topology optimization

maxwellbloch

Classical Maxwell fields propagating through open quantum systems: Maxwell's equations coupled to the Lindblad master equation.

lightworks

Lightworks is an open-source Python SDK for photonic quantum computing.

inkstone

Efficient electromagnetic solver based on rigorous coupled-wave analysis for 3D and 2D multi-layered structures with in-plane periodicity, such as gratings, photonic-crystal slabs, metasurfaces, surface-emitting lasers, nano-antennas, and more.