Meep: 2D Directional Coupler¶
Meep remains supported for capabilities not yet available in GDSFactory FDTD. This notebook is the maintained reference for a true 2D effective-index simulation.
Requirements: GDSFactory+ cloud simulation access.
Load a pcell from UBC PDK¶

Configure 2D simulation¶
The only difference from a 3D simulation is sim.solver(mode="2d", z_cut="auto").
This collapses the z-dimension, ignores sidewall angles, and enforces TE polarization.
from gsim import meep
from gsim.common.stack import get_stack
from gsim.meep.models.api import Material
stack = get_stack() # auto-detects active PDK
sim = meep.Simulation()
sim.geometry(component=c, stack=stack)
sim.materials = {
"si": Material(refractive_index=3.47),
"SiO2": Material(refractive_index=1.44),
}
sim.source(port="o1", wavelength=1.55, wavelength_span=0.01)
sim.monitors = ["o1", "o2", "o3"]
sim.domain(pml=1.0, margin_x=0.5, margin_y=0.5)
sim.solver(resolution=25, mode="2d", z_cut="auto")
sim.num_freqs = 21
sim.solver.stop_when_energy_decayed()
print(sim.validate_config())
pyvirtualdisplay not available; continuing without Xvfb
Stack validation: PASSED
Warnings:
- Stopping: energy_decay (dt=20.0, decay_by=0.01, cap=2000.0)
Preview geometry¶

For an interactive preview, use plot_2d_interactive(). It returns a Plotly
figure where you can zoom, pan, and toggle individual layers, materials, PML
regions, and ports on/off via the legend.
Run 2D simulation on cloud¶
meep-3d9c07a8 [####################] 100% complete elapsed 0m 00s
Extracting results.tar.gz...
Downloaded 4 files to sim-data-meep-3d9c07a8