How do I just take the real part of the field from the function: output_efield_z()?

[10UAikawa]

If I have a complex field the function: output_efield_z() will output a complex field as given by it function in the source code.

def output_efield_z(sim):
"""
Output the $z$ component of the field e (electric). If the field is complex, outputs
two datasets, e.g. ex.r and ex.i, within the same HDF5 file for the real and
imaginary parts, respectively.
"""
sim.output_component(mp.Ez)

But if I want to create an animation, I need to only be using the real part of the field. So, using this function creates a problem when I want to create an animation using this code:

sim.run(mp.at_beginning(mp.output_epsilon),
mp.to_appended("ez", mp.at_every(0.6, mp.output_efield_z)),
until=200)

Is there any way to get only the real part of the field?

[stevengj]

Why does it create a problem to have both z.r and z.i in the file when creating an animation? What animation tool are you using?

[10UAikawa]

I am using hdf5, and the problem is the dimensions. But I found a work around by removing the imaginary part in the .h5 file. I was also to remove certain dimensions in the .h5 file so I can view my 3D structure in 2D with the field overlayed.