---
# Frequency Domain Solver
---

This tutorial demonstrates Meep's [frequency-domain solver](../Scheme_User_Interface.md#frequency-domain-solver) which is used to compute the fields produced in a geometry in response to a [continuous-wave (CW) source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_wave). For details on how this feature works, see Section 5.3 ("Frequency-domain solver") of [Computer Physics Communications, Vol. 181, pp. 687-702, 2010](http://ab-initio.mit.edu/~oskooi/papers/Oskooi10.pdf). This example involves using the frequency-domain solver to compute the fields of a ring resonator which has been described in [Tutorial/Basics/Modes of a Ring Resonator](Basics.md#modes-of-a-ring-resonator). We will verify that the error in the computed fields decreases monotonically with decreasing tolerance of the iterative solver.

Usage of the frequency-domain solver involves only two changes to the [original simulation](https://github.com/NanoComp/meep/blob/master/scheme/examples/ring.ctl): (1) replace the Gaussian-pulse source with a [continuous source](../Scheme_User_Interface.md#source), and (2) turn on complex fields since, by default, real fields are used. Everything else remains unchanged.

Since the frequency-domain solver uses an [iterative method](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iterative_method), there are a couple of things we can do to improve its convergence: (1) use a non-zero smoothing width for the CW source (default is 0) to reduce the high-frequency oscillations produced by its abrupt turn on (which have slow group velocities and are absorbed poorly by [PML](../Perfectly_Matched_Layer.md)), and (2) increase the $L$ parameter of the [BiCGSTAB-L](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biconjugate_gradient_stabilized_method) iterative solver from the default of 2 to 10.

We will compute the fundamental mode at five different tolerance values chosen on a logarithmic scale: `1e-8`, `1e-9`, `1e-10`, `1e-11`, `1e-12`. We will then plot the L2 norm of the error in the fields (relative to the results at a tolerance of `1e-12`) as a function of the tolerance.

The simulation script is in [examples/solve-cw.ctl](https://github.com/NanoComp/meep/blob/master/scheme/examples/solve-cw.ctl).

```scm
(define-param n 3.4)
(define-param w 1)
(define-param r 1)
(define-param pad 4)
(define-param dpml 2)

(define sxy (* 2 (+ r w pad dpml)))
(set! geometry-lattice (make lattice (size sxy sxy no-size)))

(set! geometry (list
		(make cylinder (center 0 0) (height infinity)
		      (radius (+ r w)) (material (make dielectric (index n))))
		(make cylinder (center 0 0) (height infinity)
		      (radius r) (material air))))

(set! pml-layers (list (make pml (thickness dpml))))
(set-param! resolution 10)

(define-param fcen 0.118)
(set! sources (list
               (make source
                 (src (make continuous-src (frequency fcen)))
                 (component Ez)
                 (center (+ r 0.1) 0))
               (make source
                 (src (make continuous-src (frequency fcen)))
                 (component Ez)
                 (center (- (+ r 0.1)) 0)
                 (amplitude -1))))

(set! symmetries (list (make mirror-sym (direction X) (phase -1))
                       (make mirror-sym (direction Y) (phase +1))))

(set! force-complex-fields? true)

(define-param solve-cw-tol 1e-8)
(define-param solve-cw-maxiters 10000)
(define-param solve-cw-L 10)

(define (ez-real r ez) (real-part ez))

(init-fields)
(meep-fields-solve-cw fields solve-cw-tol solve-cw-maxiters solve-cw-L)
(in-volume (volume (center 0 0) (size (- sxy (* 2 dpml)) (- sxy (* 2 dpml))))
	   (output-epsilon)
	   (output-real-field-function "ez-real" (list Ez) ez-real))

(exit)
```

The results are shown in the figure below. The field profile is generated using [h5utils](https://github.com/NanoComp/h5utils/blob/master/README.md): `h5topng -o ring_field_profile.png -vZc bluered -C solve-cw-eps-000000.00.h5 solve-cw-ez-real-000000.00.h5`. The error in the fields decreases monotonically with decreasing tolerance of the frequency-domain solver. The error is converging to an asymptotic limit of `1e-12` which is set by the lowest tolerance. The inset shows the real part of the scalar E<sub>z</sub> field, computed using a tolerance of `1e-12`, superimposed on the ring-resonator geometry. Note the three-fold mirror symmetry of the field pattern (fundamental mode) and the faint presence of the point source.

<center>
![](../images/CWsolver-scheme.png)
</center>
