Tutorials

Step-by-step tutorials for learning Prismo through practical examples.

These tutorials are designed to be followed in order, building your understanding progressively.

Tutorial Overview

What You’ll Learn

1. Basic Simulation

Build your first complete FDTD simulation from scratch. Learn about:

Setting up a simulation domain
Adding sources and monitors
Running simulations
Visualizing results

2. GUI Simulation Guide

Learn to use Prismo’s Lumerical-style GUI interface. You’ll master:

Creating simulations with the GUI
Adding geometric shapes (Box, Sphere, Cylinder, Polygon)
Working with materials and assigning properties
Using the 3D viewport with slice planes
Adding sources and monitors
Running simulations and viewing results

3. Waveguide Coupling

Design and simulate waveguide structures. Topics include:

Creating waveguide geometries
Using the mode solver
Mode injection with ModeSource
Analyzing coupling efficiency

4. S-Parameters

Extract S-parameters from two-port devices. You’ll learn:

Setting up port monitors
Mode decomposition
Calculating reflection (S11) and transmission (S21)
Frequency-domain analysis

5. Parameter Optimization

Optimize device parameters using sweeps. Covers:

Parameter sweep setup
Performance metrics
Finding optimal designs
Visualization of design space

Prerequisites

Before starting these tutorials, you should:

Have Prismo installed (see Installation)
Be familiar with basic Python and NumPy
Understand basic electromagnetics concepts

Tutorial Format

Each tutorial includes:

Learning objectives - What you’ll accomplish
Code examples - Fully working, copy-paste ready code
Explanations - Why each step matters
Exercises - Try it yourself challenges
Solutions - Reference implementations

Getting Help

If you get stuck:

Check the User Guide for concept explanations
Review the API Reference for detailed API information
Look at the Examples for more code samples
Open an issue on GitHub

Ready to start? Begin with Tutorial 1: Your First FDTD Simulation!