No, irradiance power density units should be independent of lens units.  I should be able to have a lens in millimeters, centimeters, inches or meters and still be able to plot POP outputs in watts/cm², or any other irradiance unit needed, independent of lens units.  Most laser intensity and damage data is normalized to w/cm², for example.  Please don’t just blindly defend the way Zemax is doing this now.  This is a programming bug, please fix.

Also, there’s another bug in POP on the graphical output:  On Beam Definition, the Waist X and Waist Y values are apparently the waist radius, not diameter (which is conventional).  The Cross X and Cross Y plots agree with the inputs made to the X,Y waists.  However, the Beam Width X and Y values are half the plotted values.  If I enter X,Y waist values of 1.5, the beam width should be 3.0, which would agree with the Cross X,Y plots.  Instead, I’m getting Beam Widths of 1.5.  Either the output should be labeled Beam Waist X and Y, or the Beam Width should be double the waist inputs.

Hi Mike and David

In the software, all of our laser quantities are half-values. So the beam size is the beam radius and the divergence is the half angle.

I will write down a feature request and will share it with the product team. We have a plan to work on lasers next year so this would be a good time to revisit this. Even if changing words and documentation don’t seem like a huge work, it has to be done thoughtfully.

Sandrine