Please find below our plan of SimuLED development in 2009. It includes
two sections: “Improvements” and “New directions”.

============= Improvements ===========================================
SimuLED as a whole: We have many requests to include HELP in our
software and also make tutorials. We will work in this direction.

SiLENSe:
Small improvements in the user interface:
- More than one periodic structure (many users require this option, it
will be definitely done in one-two months, I hope earlier).
- Editing some parameter for many layers at once.
- Band diagram, energy level, and PL spectrum computation at negative bias
(with no carrier transport simulation!).

SpeCLED:
- Renewal of DXF files import.
- Some minor improvements and fixing of known issues.

RATRO:
- User-defined multi-layer coating on side surfaces of the substrate.
- Enable direct input of optical properties (n,k) in the multi-layer
surface.

- More advanced visualization of the light polarization. We are going
to output two variables: (i) scalar degree of polarization defined as
|TE-TM|/TE+TM, and vector showing the direction of the light
polarization (if any).

- Output of the optical losses in the bulk regions and at the
surfaces. It will allow the user to see where absorption mainly
occurs. Also, the user will be able to see which parameters are
important and which are not.
- Stop tracing of the ray after some user-defined number of
reflections .

============= New directions ================================
Execution of tasks from this section requires development and
implementation of new models.

SiLENSe:
- Improvement of carrier transport model to resolve issues with deep
MQW structures. It is very important, but hard task. Our current
status is just formulation of prototype of new model.
- Incorporation of more quantum-mechanical features into the carrier
transport model, for instance, quantum-mechanical computation of the
radiative recombination rate inside QWs. Unfortunately, this point is really
very tightly bound
with above one.

SpeCLED:
- Solver acceleration to get faster and more stable convergence. We
hope to do some algorithm for automatic tuning of the solver
parameters according to history of the iteration process.