Inverse Design Validated Optimization of Lead-Free Cs${}_3$Cu${}_2$Cl${}_5$ Visible-Light Microring Resonators Using a Coupled DFT-FDTD Framework

Abstract

Microring resonators are indispensable for wavelength filtering, sensing, and on-chip signal routing in photonic integrated circuits, yet visible-wavelength implementations using environmentally benign materials remain scarce. We report a numerical design study of add-drop MRRs employing cesium copper chloride (Cs${}_3$Cu${}_2$Cl${}_5$), a lead-free all-inorganic halide with favorable visible-band optical properties. Wavelength-resolved refractive index ($n$) and extinction coefficient ($k$) of Cs${}_3$Cu${}_2$Cl${}_5$, computed via density functional theory (DFT), serve as direct input to finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) modeling: 2.5D variational FDTD (varFDTD) for the parametric sweeps, and full three-dimensional FDTD for validation of the selected geometry. Independent parametric scans cover ring waveguide width (500--900~nm), coupling gap (150--300~nm), and bend radius (5--20~$\mu$m). At the balanced operating point of 600~nm ring width, 200~nm gap, and 10~$\mu$m radius, we obtain a loaded quality factor ($Q$) of $\sim 5,386$, a free spectral range (FSR) of 11.3~nm, a drop-port extinction ratio (ER) of 32.2~dB, and a finesse of 95.8. The gap sweep traces the full trajectory from over-coupled through critically coupled to under-coupled operation, with the critical point near 200~nm. A sharp bending-loss cliff emerges between 5 and 10~$\mu$m, below which all figures of merit collapse. These sweeps yield a systematic geometry--performance map for Cs${}_3$Cu${}_2$Cl${}_5$-based MRRs, the first reported for this compound to our knowledge. Cross-platform validation in Tidy3D reproduces the spectral fingerprint of the optimized device, and inverse design of the bus coupling region delivers a 3\% gain in drop-port power transfer, indicating that the sweep-derived geometry sits close to the coupling optimum.