When the Optimization Goal in the Merit Function Editor is set to Improve Manufacturing Yield, the operand HYLD is introduced to each optical surface in your system. The main consideration that allows OpticStudio to optimize for a more manufacturable design is accounting for the angles of incidence and refraction. High angles increase the non-linearity of Snell’s law, inducing aberrations and making the system very sensitive to tolerancing. Thus by discouraging these high angles, the result will be more manufacturable. And because the calculations for this operand are done with the rays traced for the merit function, you do not have to sacrifice speed. This is a great way to include consideration of your tolerances throughout the optimization process, avoiding wasted time on designs with high nominal performance that cannot be reliably built.

Check out the knowledge base article Designing for as-built performance with High-Yield Optimization for more about using this feature!