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Engineering students in optics and photonics need robust intuitions for the micron-scale behavior of light in dielectric materials. Educators often use textbook images of ray diagrams and static electric field profiles to introduce the behavior of light, after which undergraduate and graduate students are expected to run commercial software simulations to explore the dynamic behavior of waveguide modes. While incredibly powerful and flexible, complex commercial software tools are difficult for novices to use, preventing students from gaining nuanced conceptual insights about the behavior of optical components and devices. The Virtual Manufacturing Lab (VM-Lab) at MIT has created a series of simulations that use novel data visualizations and dynamic electric field profiles to teach the fundamentals of photonic circuit components. This work identifies key misconceptions on the topics of fiber optics, waveguides, and photonic integrated circuits which prevent students from building an accurate model for light propagating in a micron-scale dielectric waveguide. A library of interactive photonics simulations helps students learn about silicon photonics by exploring waveguide modes, mode superposition, on-chip interferometers, resonant structures, and more. In addition, interactive learning games introduce students to the application areas of photonic integrated circuits, including on-chip chemical sensing, hyperscale data centers, RF wireless communication, and LiDAR imaging.
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