Physical Quantities and Units
  • Physical Quantity
  • Unit

Physical Quantities and Units

This section describes physical quantities and their units involved in the software.

Any physical quantity is composed of a numerical value and a unit.

Based on the International System of Units (SI), and considering the unit scale characteristics of micro-nano optoelectronics, the software establishes a more commonly-used unit system as the default setting, which allows users to adjust the unit of each physical quantity individually.

Understanding the unit system used in the software facilitates the selection of appropriate units for specific physical quantities.

Definitions of Physical Quantities

Basic Physical Quantities

  • Basic Physical Quantities 1

For the definitions of the basic quantities, the definitions specified in the SI unit system shall apply:

Name Symbol Show Symbol Unit Dimension
Length ll l Meter, m LL
Quality mm m Kilogram, Kg MM
Time tt t Second, s TT
Current II I Ampere, A II
Temperature TT T Kelvin, K Θ\Theta
Amount of substance nn n Mole, mol NN
Luminous intensity IvI_v Iv Candela, cd JJ
  • Basic Physical Quantities 2

This software also specifies additional basic physical quantities based on specific needs, including:

Name Symbol Show Symbol Unit Dimension
Frequency ff f HzHz T1 T^{-1}~
Wavelength λ\lambda lambda/wavelength mm LL
Conductance σ\sigma S SS L2M1T3I2 L^{-2}M^{-1}T^{3}I^{2}~
Resistance RR R Ω\Omega L2MT3I2 L^2MT^{-3}I^{-2}~

Domain Space

For the definition of an electromagnetic field, the associated spatial dimensions vary by domain. Here are the common examples:

  • Time domain electromagnetic field: For example, the coordinates of EE are (x,y,z,t)(x,y,z,t);
  • Frequency domain electromagnetic field: For example, the coordinates of EE are (x,y,z,f)(x,y,z,f) or (x,y,z,λ)(x,y,z,\lambda);
  • Eigenmode field: For example, the coordinates of EE are (x,y,z,#mode,f)(x,y,z,\# mode,f)(x,y,z,#mode,λ)(x,y,z,\# mode,\lambda).

In addition, Fourier transform also involves the spatial angular frequency domain, etc.

Derived Physical Quantities

Name Symbol Show Symbol Unit Dimension
Electric intensity EE E V/m LMT3I1 LMT^{-3}I^{-1}~
Magnetic intensity HH H A/m L1I L^{-1}I~
Poynting vector PP P W/m^2 MT3 MT^{-3}~
(Average) power power power W L2MT3 L^2MT^{-3}~
Transmissivity TT T ~ 11

Common Units and Scale Relationships

The software allows users to change the units of length, frequency, time, conductance, and resistance according to different scales, specifically as follows:

Length

The software supports the following length units:

Name Symbol Show Symbol Unit
Meter mm m meter
Centimeter cmcm cm 1 Centimeter = 10^-2 meter
Millimeter mmmm mm 1 Millimeter = 10^-3 meter
Micrometer μm\mu m um 1 Micrometer = 10^-6 meter
Nanometer nmnm nm 1 Nanometer = 10^-9 meter

Frequency

The software supports the following frequency units:

Name Symbol Show Symbol Unit
Hertz HzHz Hz Hertz
Kilohertz KHzKHz KHz 1 Kilohertz = 10^3 Hertz
Megahertz MHzMHz MHz 1 Megahertz = 10^6 Hertz
Gigahertz GHzGHz GHz 1 Gigahertz = 10^9 Hertz
Terahertz THzTHz THz 1 Terahertz = 10^12 Hertz

Time

The software supports the following time units:

Name Symbol Show Symbol Unit
Seconds ss s Seconds
Milliseconds msms ms 1 Milliseconds = 10^-3 Seconds
Nanoseconds nsns ns 1 Nanoseconds = 10^-9 Seconds
Picoseconds psps ps 1 Picoseconds = 10^-12 Seconds
Femtoseconds fsfs fs 1 Femtoseconds = 10^-15 Seconds

Conductance

The software supports the following conductance units:

Name Symbol Show Symbol Unit
Siemens SS S Siemens
Millisiemens mSmS mS 1 Millisiemens = 10^-3 Siemens
Microsiemens μS\mu S uS 1 Microsiemens = 10^-6 Siemens

Resistance

The software supports the following resistance units:

Name Symbol Show Symbol Unit
Ohms Ω\Omega ohm Ohms
Milliohms mΩm\Omega mohm 1 Milliohms = 10^-3 Ohms
Microohms μΩ\mu \Omega uohm 1 Microohms = 10^-6 Ohms

Physical Constants

The software supports the following physical constants:

Symbol Command Parameter Value Unit Dimension Description
π\pi pi 3.14159265359 1 11 The number π\pi
cc c 2.99792458e8 ms1m \cdot {s^{-1}} LT1 LT^{-1}~ The speed of light in a vacuum
ε0\varepsilon0 eps0 8.8541878128e-12 Fm1F \cdot {m^{-1}} L3M1T4I2 L^{-3}M^{-1}T^4I^2~ The permittivity of free space
μ0\mu0 mu0 1.25663706212e-6 NA2N \cdot {A^{-2}} LMT2I2 LMT^{-2}I^{-2}~ The permeability of free space
hh h 6.62607015e-34 JsJ\cdot s ML2T1 ML^2T^{-1}~ The Planck constant
\hbar hbar 1.054571800e-34 JsJ\cdot s ML2T1 ML^2T^{-1}~ The reduced Planck constant
ee e 1.602176634e-19 CC TITI The electron charge

Change Units

Interface Unit Settings

The software allows users to change the units of length, frequency, time, conductance, and resistance according to different scales, specifically as follows:

app_units_select.png

Correlation of Physical Quantities and Independence of Units

The software supports unit conversion for input data.

Name Symbol Show Symbol Unit
frequency ff f frequency
wavelength λ\lambda lambda metre

More Information

Domain of Definition

Definition of Special Symbols

Character Description
inf Infinity
nan Not a number
-0 Negative zero

Error Report

  • Automatic modification

  • Intelligent warning

  • Warning, modification

Units in Scripts

For units in scripts, particular attention should be paid to the following:

  • Scripts do not support unit settings;
  • For variables created in a script, their physical meaning and units are determined by the creator;
  • The units in scripts are independent of the physical units set in the software, and vice versa;
  • Data transfer between scripts and the software (retrieving data from the software or importing data from scripts) is performed by default based on the SI system. For example, if the length unit is set to μm\mu m in the software, a data value indicating a side length of 3μm3 \mu m is represented as 3×106m3 \times 10^{-6}m in scripts, and vice versa;

Special notes:

  • The built-in constants provided by scripts shall be defined in the SI system. For example, the built-in velocity of light is c=2.99792458×108m/sc = 2.99792458 \times 10^8m/s;
  • When exchanging data between scripts and projects or using built-in physical constants, the units in scripts are always based on the SI system, unless these data or constants have been converted beforehand.