Various embodiments are directed to an apparatus and methods of forming and/or using an apparatus comprising a plurality of device components. An example method includes geometrically optimizing a periodic or aperiodic device comprising a plurality of device components by optimizing a topology, for each device component, from a starting point to have particular optical properties for a particular optical response. Each device component includes a plurality of geometric structures. The optimization includes selecting the starting point for a continuous profile to have the particular optical properties for the particular optical response, iteratively converging the continuous profile to a discrete profile, and, while iteratively converging to the discrete profile, adjusting edges between boundaries of the device components by accounting for fabrication constraints.