Graphical User Interface (GUI): Characterization Technique for Photonic and Plasmonic Structures

Optical fibers are known to be the backbone of optical communication systems. These have huge information carrying capacity and extremely low losses. Photonics is an important research area dealing with optical fibers and optical waveguides. It finds applications in sensing, medical sciences, and telecommunication (Ghatak and Thyagarajan, Introduction to fiber optics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998). It is therefore very important to develop tools and methods for understanding the phenomenon of waveguidance through these photonic structures. Some of the photonic waveguides and devices are analytically solvable but many need development of characterization techniques to fully exploit their potential. In this paper, we present graphical user interface (GUI)—an application of SCILAB which is an open-source programming language. This tool consists of a set of interactive visual elements that aid in problem analysis and presentation using icons, visual metaphors, and pointing devices. In a GUI, edit boxes make it simple to insert the input parameters. The user interface (GUI) conveys information by displaying objects and represents actions that can be taken by the user. The user interface includes text boxes, checkboxes, sliders, and/or edit boxes where input parameters can be entered. The resultant data can be shown in tabular or graphical form, which can also offer a comparison sheet. This paper depicts a tool with which any photonic and plasmonic structure can be easily solved and analyzed.