Hello, Could you please help me with a following question:   I modelled a simple spectrometer and I want to see how the slit width affect an image spot. I see that POP plot and Huygens PSF plot look very different (attached)   So, I have 2 questions: If I have no laser beam, no fiber coupling, but just ' ambient light' ,which POP settings should I use to see the diffraction effects from the slit with different width ? I mean which Waist Size should I choose? Beam waist or Top hat ?   2. Why Huygens PSF plot looks quite unusual for the some wavelengths?   Thanks, Lena

Hello, I am trying to view and generate rays from Radiant Source Models in Zemax. Unfortunately the software is not allowing me to do this. I was able to successfully download an example Radiant Source File from the Catalog, “OPTO_OD8_01_c.rsmx” from Opto Diode Corp. One screenshot attached shows what happens when I try to view a source model. The loading circle continues forever and nothing ever opens. The second screenshot attached shows what happens when I try to generate rays from a source model. No matter what I do, the “Generate Rays” button is permanently grayed out. I am using a Microsoft SurfaceBook 2 on Windows 10. Would greatly appreciate any help getting these features working. Sincerely, Joseph Corry

Hi,   I have a bandpass filter, so I have modeled my wavelengths with different weightings around the center. I understand that this will automatically be taken into account in the Default Merit Function, when doing optimization.  What I am unsure of, is whether this is taken to account in spot diagrams, and other analaysis features. If I make a spot diagram, showing all of the wavelengths, when it shows the RMS, is it taking into account the wavelength weighting ? Thanks you

Hi, I am currently wondering if it is possible to set the opactiy/ trasparency of optical rays without merely adjusting the number of layout rays (currently I use an ellipse/annulus or circular source array and adjust the number of layout rays) - such that one could create a fully transparent 'beam' in NSC. Additionally, would it then be possible to create intensity dependent opacity, such that after propagating through an IDEAL 0.80 0.20 coating, the two rays path are 80% and 20% the original intesnity respectively? Thanks, Nicholas 

I have Solidworks components in my Zemax files. Do I need to have a Solidworks license available to run ray trace on such a file or just having Solidworks installed on the machine is adequate?  

I get this error : Error Geometry error : NSC groupe surface 1 source 2 Gem=ometry error object 11 detected when doing a ray trace. then the ray trace stops and I cannot do a proper analysis as not all the rays have been traced. object 11 is a prism with a uncommon shape that I imported as a CAD object. The NSC 3D layout shows the correct geometry and no error is reported what can I do to identify the geometry issue

Hi I want to use API setting FieldCurvatureAndDistortion. But IAS properties is not FieldCurvatureAndDistortion properties. Its like the image below. What i can do? thanks  

Hi Zemax Community, I wrote a macro to create a number of objects in Non-Sequential Mode and pass various details to be sent to a specified .dll, including the Split option, DLL, Orders, and all the other details required for the .dll. When I run the macro, the objects are created as expected with all typical details showing up in the NSC editor (e.g. positions, tilts, size, thickness, material, etc.). However, in the diffraction tab, only the correct Split, DLL, and Orders show up (correctly) while the edit boxes for the details for the .DLL are not present: If I then change the DLL and then set it back to the original, desired DLL, the edit boxes appear with the values I passed to the object originally: Is there a way to have this show up properly without manually changing the DLL to a different DLL, then back again for each object? The main reason I wrote the macro was to auto-create many objects instead of manually entering values into each element. Additionally, if I copy an obj

Hi, the image below shows a sample non-sequential ray trace result in angle space using the detector rectangle.     May I know how are the angles in x any y defined? Is it defined as θx and θy shown in the diagram below? If not, what's the correct definition and how can they be derived from direction cosines of the ray vector (red arrow)?

Dear Sir or Madam, I have a distorted wavefront from a physical beam I am using in the lab. I would like to use this measured beam profile (see below) and simulate what kind of aberrations this leads to in my downstream optics. Is this kind of simulation possible with Zemax Physical Optics Propagation tool? Thank you, George      

What is the easiest way to define a constant refractive index in non-sequential mode? I don't care for the wavelength dependency, I just need to define a constant refractive index for a Rectangular Volume object. Thank you.

Can I set a detector and let it works in NSC in mixed mode?   if not, can I set an illumination image target on SQ image surface to do optimization that works like Bitmap optimization in pure Non-sequential mode?   Best regards, Kevin

Is there any problem with configuration of scattering surface?

To Whom It May Concern: I am working with a C++ code writer who will provide a light source file with ZRD format. I only know Source File can use SDF format, however, I don't know how to use ZRD to create a light source. Could you help me with that? Thanks. Zheng-Wu (Paul)

Did anybody simulate Bayer Filter for color camera in sequential mode?

Hello, Where can I find Russian GOST materials catalog? I need some materials that LZOS catalog doesn't have (ex. K14).

Are layout rays traced identically to analysis rays? Or are there optimizations that ignore certain aspects so that they're faster to draw, etc?

I'd like to set a field angle in object space,e.g., 10 deg.  After Binary 1, the rays would be 0 deg.  What merit function can we apply for this work? Best wishes,  CM tsai

HI guys. Have a good day. I am making a simple system for infrared. I wonder if Zemax has Infrared Image simulation or not?.  Although I adjusted the wavelength and temperature, the image simulation seem like the visible image. So how can i fix this and is there any IR material catalog in Zemax ?  Thanks in advance.

I want to optimize the design of a stacked lens that it's going to be 3D printed. Each layer (Rectangular Volume objects) has a constant refractive index, but by stacking them we create a GRIN lens effect. This will focus the light only in one direction. As a first step, I want for some specific input and focal length (I implement the specific focal length by defining the detector to be at a specific distance from the lens) to change the length and layer thickness. When I ran an optimization, the length became negative, so I applied a constraint with NPGT for the thickness, here the Z Length of the rectangular object. But it still gets negative. Is there a way to apply contstraints in my input correctly? The layer thicknesses, namely the Y half width of the rectangular object, I also need them to be constraint between 0.1 and 0.3 mm, but I haven't implemented this yet, since not even the Z length constraint works for me. Since this design focuses the light i

In the Footprint Diagram Analysis Feature, the maximum and minimum ray X and Y dimensions are provided on the plot.  Is there a way to access these same values from the merit function?  I would like to know the maximum ray X and Y coordinates for each applied tolerance and monte carlo file, without having to refresh the Footprint Diagram window for every change.  Thank you

This forum thread should be used to continue the discussion from the Envision 2020 workshop, Designing for Manufacturability. Presenter: Katsumoto Ikeda Abstract: Careless approaches to optical design can result in designs that are sensitive to manufacturing and alignment errors, resulting in optical products that are difficult to manufacture successfully repeatedly. Methods for desensitizing the optical system, including and High-Yield Optimization, produce designs that meet tight performance specifications, provide a higher manufacturing yield, and lower manufacturing costs through less waste. Join our workshop to discover our best practices in using these methods. You can also find the Envision 2020 LinkedIn group here.

Dear friends of ZEMAZ, good afternoon. Thank you very much for granting the license update. However, the computer I was using had an incident and stopped working, and I could not retrieve any information. I had to buy another computer, but now I cannot use ZEMAX with the license granted on my new computer. Could you help me solve this problem? Thank you very much for your help and understanding. Bets regards, Fermin Granados

Our authentication provider experienced a critical issue between 15:00 and 21:00 UTC on April 20, 2021 that resulted in MyZemax being inaccessible to our customers. We'd like to sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our customers. MyZemax is back up and running, and we are continuing to monitor the situation.

Working in non-sequential mode, I am trying to create an entrance port through a reflective rectangular volume using a cylinder volume. I have done this previously with a sphere and cylindrical volume but in this situation, the beam bounces off the rectangular volume no matter how the cylinder is postioned. This is a simplified version below of just the beam, rectangular volume and cylinder volume.  Is there a way to make this work or is this not possible?