ErwinJr is an open source design and simulation program for quantum semiconductor devices including quantum cascade lasers. The ErwinJr project started as part of a PhD thesis at Princeton Unversity. The code base was later rewritten using a completely open source implementation at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
ErwinJr is a multi-platform application that runs on most desktop operating systems including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The software is open source, free for the community to both use and participate in improving. It gives users an intuitive interface with which to interact. Numerical calculations are executed in a matter of seconds on a present-day laptop computer, giving visual feedback in real time. In its present configuration, ErwinJr is divided into two modules: a quantum module relevant to the quantum cascade itself, and the optical module which, taking inputs from the quantum module, models phenomena at the optical waveguide level. While highly capable and imminently useful in its present form, ErwinJr remains a work in progress. Future versions might include a more robust optical mode solver, thermal modeling capabilities, and potentially the ability to model full light--current--voltage curves. It is our hope that the QC laser community at large will contribute to this endeavor.
The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is right now staging the release of ErwinJr 2.0. Look for an official release soon.
