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Citation

If Ikarus carried your results somewhere good, please cite it — it's how open-source scientific software earns its keep.

How to cite

Shelling Neto, L. Ikarus: high-precision 2-D RCWA simulation for periodic photonic structures (version 0.2.0). CAVITY technologies UG, 2026. https://github.com/CAVITYtechnologies/ikarus

BibTeX

@software{ikarus_rcwa,
  author  = {Shelling Neto, Liam},
  title   = {{Ikarus}: High-Precision 2-D RCWA Simulation for Periodic
             Photonic Structures},
  year    = {2026},
  version = {0.2.0},
  publisher = {CAVITY technologies UG},
  url     = {https://github.com/CAVITYtechnologies/ikarus}
}

Set version to the release you actually used — python -c "import ikarus; print(ikarus.__version__)".

Want a DOI?

For a permanently archived, versioned reference, connect the GitHub repo to Zenodo — each release then mints a DOI you can drop into the entry above.

Background references

The method itself stands on classic shoulders. If you discuss RCWA in your paper, these are the canonical citations:

  • M. G. Moharam and T. K. Gaylord, "Rigorous coupled-wave analysis of planar-grating diffraction," J. Opt. Soc. Am. 71, 811 (1981) — the original formulation.
  • M. G. Moharam, E. B. Grann, D. A. Pommet, T. K. Gaylord, "Formulation for stable and efficient implementation of the rigorous coupled-wave analysis of binary gratings," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 12, 1068 (1995).
  • L. Li, "Use of Fourier series in the analysis of discontinuous periodic structures," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 13, 1870 (1996) — the factorization rules; the default normal-vector method applies Li's inverse rule along the local boundary normal.
  • L. Li, "New formulation of the Fourier modal method for crossed surface-relief gratings," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 14, 2758 (1997) — the two-step factorization behind factorization="li", to which the default reduces on axis-aligned geometry.
  • T. Schuster, J. Ruoff, N. Kerwien, S. Rafler, W. Osten, "Normal vector method for convergence improvement using the RCWA for crossed gratings," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 24, 2880 (2007) — the normal-vector (Fast Fourier Factorization) method behind the default factorization="auto".
  • L. Li, "Formulation and comparison of two recursive matrix algorithms for modeling layered diffraction gratings," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 13, 1024 (1996) — the S-matrix recursion.
  • R. C. Rumpf, "Improved formulation of scattering matrices for semi-analytical methods that is consistent with convention," PIER B 35, 241 (2011) — the scattering-matrix conventions Ikarus follows.

These cite the method; the software entry above cites the implementation.