Hi, Our team tried hard today to input a GGD file (placed in Glasscat folder) which contains the 3D index map of one of our desired gradient index lenses in order to trace the rays by Zemax.  While the exisiting sample file "Sample.GGD" in Glasscat with Grid Gradient surface type works perfectly, none of our own generated files works.  When updating  with our own GGD file, we always get this error message: "Internal Error! nx, ny, nz Sizes are incorrect". Attached you will find one of our GGD files.  We do not have any clue how to move forward with this problem now and appreciate your great help. Best, Hooman Akhavan Voxtel Corporation, OR USA

Hi @Jeff.Wilde and @Mark.Nicholson,I hope you both are well.First of all sorry for tagging you both. I have seen couple of topics from you on PSF and its setups, and thought if i could reach out to you for help.I am trying to characterise the performance of a collimator design (diffraction profile through POP) to high accuracy of setup 2 fields in a simple collimator lens design using an aspheric lens, and have few problems from probably very basic to a bit more challenging for me. ​​​​​​System details.The input a single mode gaussian output (considered perfect gaussian for this analysis) coming from either FC/PC or FC/APC (8 degree angle tilt: effective 3.71 degree) fibre. The fibre NA is 0.12 with MFD 5.3um.  Wavelength: 780nm, aspheric lens with well corrected spherical aberration with wave front error <0.05 lambda.Characterisation requirement:Firstly, I want to observe the beam profile at multiple distances away from the lens with high accuracy, down to ~10^-6-10^-8 irradiance l

    When I set the distance from the Source Guassian to 10^15 , NSC 3D Layout shows that Maximum zoom has been reached.    Is zemax unable to simulate this kind of problem ？

Hi   Trying to set up a NS system with goal to achieve a uniform flat top rectangular light distribution at a distance.  So far only achieve in one direction.  Need someone to review my set up and merit function.  I could not find a kb article on this subject except the article by Akash Arora “How to optimize NS optical system” which was helpful as a 1st step.   Please see attached detailed description and question in ppt and .zar file   Thanks.

I had a hard time in controlling the aspherical surface shape on a design found by the hammer optimization (over night, you get it. It’s a better practice to add some constrains before we optimize instead of after the optimization.) for my project. I did some investigation and want to share with you some methods and tools that I found quite useful.We can use the Q type to optimize, then convert to even asphere if needed for certain reasons. The tool in Analysis->PAL/Freeform→ Power Pupil/Field Map may help, similarly the surface sag cross section. Following the second one, we can control these by using POWF and POWP For mold glass we need something close to sphere, this can be controlled by BFSD The SDRV and the SCUR can be applied to optimize the plastic lenses to have the desired shapeI may miss some useful tools. Certain methods may not work for certain cases. I would like to know what you think about these methods and do you have other ways to achieve this?

Dear Zemax Staff and Users,I would like to ask if there is a possibility to parameterization of the model’s values or type equations instead of the scalar.As an example, in this simple sequential model (figure below) I would like to perform optimization where thickness of the surfaces 2 and 3 are variables. However, I would like to keep these two values at constant level during optimization. Therefore, some kind of parameterization is needed. Moreover, is it possible to implement some equations like: “thickness surf. 2 = thickness surf 3 + 2 mm”? I would massively speed up some task in complex optical models. I didn’t find direct option to solve this problems but I was wondering maybe there is some more advanced approach like using Python. I would be pleased to get your advice on this topic. Best regards,Michal Cwikla

Hello,is there an easy way to define a ray in non-sequential mode, whose properties “follow-up” on the sequential Polarization Ray Trace tool? My ultimate goal is to define a source in non-sequential mode whose rays are determined from the sequential Polarization Ray Trace tool. I then wish to propagate these rays through a non-sequential absorptive Fabry Pérot etalon, and determine the coherent irradiance and phase in the middle of this etalon.I am including below the Polarization Ray Trace tool output from which I would like to define a non-sequential ray. Please note that I do not have any experience creating or using DLL, hence a brute force solution would be preferable in my DLL-uneducated case, even if it takes more time. If using a DLL is the only solution, could you assist me in matching the seq pol ray trace output below to the inputs of the “diff_samp_1.c” Zemax sample file? I am happy to create and share a Zemax Code Exchange script that converts between the two once the par

Hi,Can you please explain what Apodization Factor means?Lets say my Entrance Pupil is 25 mm and Apodization Factor is 6.5, what is the beam size?Thanks, talimu

I compared two TRAD flag conditions (flag=0 and flag=1) and they did not change the tolerancing from lens units to percent of radius of curvature.  Both flag conditions treat the tolerance limits as lens units.Is this a known bug for 22.1?

Hello all,I have a sensor with micro lens array on top, the use of the micro lens is to achieve higher efficiency for higher values of angle of incident. I optimized my design and have different values of chief ray angle from that of the micro lens array, I would like to know how much energy I am losing due to this mismatch?Unfortunately I don't have the micro lens design or any parameters to simulate the lens, the only things I know is the pixel size (3micron) and a table that tells me the CRA for each location on the sensor.Any help would by appreciated.Thanks, Bentzi 

Hi,Before asking my question I anticipate I started working with OpticStudio only few weeks ago so I am a newbie with it. I need to create a concave and a flat mirror (but I guess the solution is the same) having a circular aperture in the center (or in a decentrered position).In sequential mode, I created (successfully) two tilted curved mirrors producing their image on a plane,  but now I need to place an aperture in the first one without changing anything else.I tried to modify the first mirror switching it in non-sequential mode and creating a group composed by the mirror and inside it, as second element, a standard surface (same position and curvature as the mirror) but although this solution seems to work as expected I cannot tilt it. So I wonder which is the best approach to solve this problem. Thank you very much for any tips you can provide me

Hi all,i have an old lens inside of a device, that i need to simulate. Unfortunately i can’t find the surface data for that lens currently.The company that nowadays owns the former supplier just gave me the hint, that the old zemax-library should contain that lens. Thus i’m asking… Does anybody have access to very old stock-catalogs (probably Optic-Studio 10/13 or so, i checked on OS 16 already), that contain the Lens 01LAL017 or 01LAL417 of the company “Melles Griot” (maybe also “CVI Melles Griot”)?I would  be really happy, if somebody could provide me the lens data. :)Greets!Jonas

Hi everyone, I am trying to compare the focal spot size and intensity between two different GRIN lenses, whose refractive index profile has been designed using Gradient 2. However, I am having some problems in quantifying the effect on the focal spot, that I try to articulate here: 1) Using the Quick Focus feature (spot size radial) results in unexpected results, as the one shown below: Is there another way to find the optimal focus without performing a manual scanning of the image plane? 2) The scope of the simulation is to visualize a 2D image of the irradiance at the focal spot. I've read somewhere that for GRIN profiles, the results in terms of irradiance when using Huygens PSF and POP should match. Is it correct? I performed multiple attempts in POP (after scanning the image plane manually to find a result that does make sense), using even the max X and Y sampling, but the results are always different.Therefore, my question is: should I trust the PSF or POP results?   3

Hello! I’m trying to import a phase profile of DOE from matlab with DAT file and Grid Phase surface. You can see in this file and in matlab screenshot that max value of phase profile is near 4000 for circular aperture. But at the surface phase figure in optic studio max value is about 670.  And min value is -1,3 instead of 0. For writing this file I used code discribed in Knowledgebase articles about Grid Sag because this surface are very similar. Why OpticStudio doesn’t import this file correctly?So is that something wrong with DAT file or this code doesn’t match with Grid Phase? Could you please discribe suitable code for matlab? Thank you for the future answers!!

If I have a broadband sequential imaging lens design with 100mm aperture but one wavelength only is delivered via a beam-splitter of smaller diameter (~40mm) placed in front of the lens,  how do I set this up to optimise without actually having to include the beam-splitter in front?  Can I put some kind of zero thickness mask in front which retricts the diameter of the one wavelength only but is invisible to the rest?

Dear all,  I wanted to start a discussion about version managment of OpticStudio files. Everyone will know this problem of saving changes as a new file (V2, V3_final...). I want to use a git respository to manage the changes of an optical design.  Does anyone already had experience with this?

Hello,I have a simple model with one focusing lens and one coated mirror. I would like to find the correct OpticStudio way to decompose this model such that I can simulate the POP electric field, at a specific location inside the coating, without affecting the coating interference physics.The coating itself represents an infrared detector. In OpticStudio I define it as a simple stack of four materials, plus an aluminium substrate for the mirror surface defined in the lens editor.COAT MIRI_DETZNS 0.72 1SI_MIRI 465 1SIAS 30 1SI_MIRI 4 1ALUM 1 1The ZnS material is the detector anti-reflection coating, followed by a thick pure silicon slab, followed by an absorptive layer of arsenic-doped silicon, followed by a thin pure silicon layer. Using the OpticStudio Coating tool “Absorption vs. wavelength” one can see that for a single incidence angle, the interference produces large amplitude fringes in the spectral direction. A similar result applies as a function of incidence angle.Ideally, what

WelcomeWelcome to the March edition of the Zemax’s Community review newsletter! This newsletter provides updates for you, the user, on items you might find interesting or helpful from the last month! In this article, we will call out forum posts you may have missed and will honor a Zemax user who has made a contribution to their peers! Check out each of these items below:Welcome Check out the updated Code Exchange! Keep up-to-date with your Zemax product through our User Groups Featured Community Posts: Structural and Thermal Analysis Zemax-er Spotlight: David NguyenIs there something else you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments below! Check out the updated Code Exchange!With the launch of the updated forums in August 2021, we introduced the Code Exchange - an exclusive forum for supported users. Within the forum, Zemax engineers and other users are contributing their coding solutions. In this space, you will find everything from ZOS-API analyses to DLLs to ZPL macros. Upon requ

Dear All,I designed the compact imaging device for ophthalmology. The CMOS with curved imaging surface was used as a sensor because aberration curvature of field left unbalanced. ZEMAX-OpticStudio does not allow to introduce lateral displacements and tilts of a sensor using the operands TEDX and TETX. Please suggest how the parameters can be toleranced.Sincerely,Mark

Join us for our monthly “Ask an Engineer” event! Submit your questions between now and March 17th. The event will be hosted on ​​​​​this thread in text form with a focus on the spotlighted topic: Topic: STAR: Bring structural and thermal analysis results into OpticStudioPredicting the optical effects resulting from mechanical stresses or thermal variations is an important step in creating a valid digital prototype. Ask your questions about modeling surface deformations due to mechanical stress, expansion or compression of components due to temperature changes, temperature gradients or changes across a system, and effects of temperature on index of refraction. Dates: March 4th - March 17thLive Discussion Time: 8am - 9am PST, March 17thEngineer:​@Hui Chen - Senior Application Engineer at Ansys ZemaxSubmit your questions as a reply to this thread between now and the end of the event. Items may be added in any supported language (English, Japanese, Chinese). Questions added to the discussi

Dear colleagues,To make a right modeling of optical system in NSC mode I always have to choose “Use Polarization” in Ray Trace Control to get a right value of rays total hits of detector ?Below is detector imag in the middle of which is sapphire standart lense that reflects almost all rays if I “Use Polarization”. Detector is behind the lense.Is polarization so strongly impact the ray tracing ?  

When PLEN/OPTH operands are used for systems with Paraxial surfaces, return values that are smaller than the actual optical path may be obtained. What is the reason for this?For example, in the following 4F system based on Paraxial Lens, the intermediate parallel propagation distance is defined as 16 mm, but the return values of PLEN for marginal rays (Px and Py not equal to 0) are less than 16 mm: Could you please help me determine where the problem is?

Good day! Maybe someone knows, is it possible to create in Opticstudio some “model” of optical elements group with known aberrations (of whole group)? I need to assess obtained image of certain object before accessing official blackbox model. Thank you for help! 

Dear Sir/Madam,I have couple of questions regarding “Source Diode” setup.1: There is a column “ X - divergence, Y - divergance” in this column either we have to enter half of the full divergence angle or full divergence angle? That is, if laser diode is having 33 degree full divengence in y direction so in “Y-Divegence” column what we have to put, 33 degree or 16.5 degree?2: Similarly we have column for “Delta X” and “Delta Y”, in this column we have to put center to center spacing of the emitters or edge to edge spacing.According to above layout in “Delta X” column we have to put 150um or 225um? Regards,Chandan Maurya

When clicking on a new object type in NSCE. It automatically changes type to the previous object that was altering. Exmple  if was editing a lens and click to edit a annulus, then the annulus changes automatically to a lens. This can be undone and editing start but it wastes a lot of time.