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I am trying to use a Powell lens for line illumination. Does anyone know how to set up a surface model of the Powell lens in Zemax? 

Hello Hu,



Thanks for your question here!



To model a Powell lens, you can use one of the Biconic or Biconic Zernike Lens/Surface Objects. There are variants of these in both Sequential and Non-Sequential Mode. You can find a description of the Biconic Zernike Lens Object in the Help under “The Setup Tab > Editors Group (setup tab) > Non-Sequential Component Editor > Non-Sequential Geometry Objects > Biconic Zernike Lens”. The Biconic Zernike Lens can be useful as it allows for the usage of Zernike terms along with aspheric sag defined in terms of X and Y. Alternatively, you may also try to use a Toroidal Object/Surface; you can find two cylindrical lens sample files for this in “\Documents\Zemax\Samples\Non-sequential\Miscellaneous” and “\Documents\Zemax\Samples\Sequential\Miscellaneous” folders.



As another possibility, you can generate a swept object with the Part Designer, or use a CAD software to draw it and then import it into OpticStudio. Alternatively, you can find a CAD drawing from a manufacturer and import that. For example, there are some developed Powell lens CAD models on Thorlab's website. You can download the Step file, place it in the folder: \Zemax\Objects\CAD Files, and then in OpticStudio choose Object Type: CAD Part: STEP/IGES/SAT to load the file.



If you’re also interested in optimizing a system like this, please check out our Knowledgebase article that goes over the optimization process for a similar system in Sequential Mode; it optimizes for a flat top profile (uniform spatial illumination):



How to design a Gaussian to Top Hat beam shaper



Best,



Csilla



 


Hello



Just to add one more inforamtion. In many case, this can be built with hyperbolic shape, like the example in this document: http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=3410933&fileOId=3410943



Best regards,



Michael


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