chief ray path length for off axis surface

  • 11 January 2021
  • 2 replies
  • 243 views

Hello,


I am building an optical system with a number of surfaces. One of the surfaces I am using is an off axis surface.  I put the surface off axis using coordinates breaks.  The vertex of the surface is off of the optical axis of the system.  The chief ray intersects this surface not at its vertex.  I would like to optimize the surface ROC using a merit function BUT I want to constrain the chief ray path length (from the priovious surface to the off axis surface) to a fixed value.  How do i constrain this chief ray distance yet allow the ROC to vary based on the merit function?


thanks


John


2 replies

Userlevel 5
Badge +1

Hi John,


Thanks for posting to the forums!


There is a merit function operand called PLEN -- this takes the path length between two surfaces, meaning you could specify the optical path length between your mirror and the surface before it. Below is an excerpt on PLEN from our Help Files:

 




 



Does this operand seem like it might help? Let us know if there are other details needing our attention or if I've misunderstood. Thanks!


~ Angel

thanks!  I will try this.


 

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