In the manual it says “The Rayleigh distance is ignored on input and is automatically recomputed by OpticStudio” however when it is recomputed by Zemax it does not take into account the BPP of the beam, is there any way to make Zemax use the Rayleigh range from the ZBF file? Would making a DLL fix this or does Zemax also ignore the Rayleigh range in a DLL?

Hello everyoneI want to simulate darkfield imaging in zemax nsq mode.In the attached file, I have implemented the reflective target (made by Part designer in Zemax, + shaped) that I want to image, and the coaxial illumination and side illumination.The target is made of two different types of metals that are very thin, and I have actually confirmed that it appears as a darkfield in a microscope or other illumination optical system.(The attached file is a simply configured 4f imaging system.)I want to check whether darkfield illumination is implemented by simply setting the illumination and scattering characteristics of the target in this optical system, so that only the edge of the target is visible as a line.I want to check whether darkfield imaging is implemented by making the side illumination angle closer to the target than in the attached file, and whether any scattering model is used.What parameters should I adjust?       Thank you.    Best Regard

Hi everyone!I'm working with an optical system that operates using a single field (an on-axis collimated beam - object at infinity), and I’d like to estimate its distortion.As I understand it, distortion is typically evaluated by comparing multiple fields, so I would need to add additional ones to get a result. However, I’m wondering if there’s a way to estimate distortion using only one field.I've attached a layout screenshot showing the image space of the system. Is it possible, for example, to infer distortion by analyzing the standard deviation of distances D1, D2, D3, D4, etc.? Presumably, if distortion were zero, these distances would all be equal (I already developed that metric in Non-Sequential raytraces with the API). I realize this is limited to a single axis, but switching to Non-Sequential mode isn't an option in this case, as the system includes a black box component.Any insights would be greatly appreciated.Thank you! 

Hi, using the waveront map analysis, the results are always given in waves. Is there a way to display the results in nanometers? Could be convenient when the specifications are in nanometers, and when you have a lot of different wavelengths and fields, the manual conversion is long…Thanks

Is it possible to import a STEP file model of an optical system into Zemax?  

Hi, I am using a non-sequential mode to simulate a fisheye lens imaging quality. I can see the focused image on the sensor if use log10 intensity scale, And I think the efficiency is too small. I know in the sequential mode, for fisheye we have to choose ray aiming turn off to have better efficiency. Do I have to do something similar in the non sequential mode? or Do I just need to add some lens housing to have a better efficiency? Thanks a lot. 

I create a UDA with 10 dark lines of 0.01mm width and 10 mm length. I place this UDA on Physical Optics Top Hat light source. Some lines are missing in a 2D plotting, increaing sampling does not help. But all lines are show up in Cross X profile. See the 3 graphs below. My question is how to show all the lines in 2D plotting? 

Hello,I’m working in sequential mode with a nonsequential component, which is a CAD part (stp). It’s a quite complex part which I exploded into 13 parts. When I change something (like assigning a material or scaling a part) the program freezes and it takes approx.. 2 minutes loading until I can do anything again, although I disabled the auto-update of all windows. When I update the shaded model the whole program freezes and around 10 minutes later it finishes loading. I already deleted all unneccessary parts and neither the working memory nor the cpu are at full capacity. Does anyone have any ideas on what I could do to be able to work smoothly (or even just a little more smoothly) with complex cad files?Thanks in advance for any help!

I am using configurations to combine multiple arms over a wide wavelength range so I can make sure everything lines up exactly.  I am using a black box lens from a vendor.  The glass in that lens does not work with a wavelength I am using in a different arm.  That black box lens is ignored when the system has the wavelength in question, but this still causes the “Not within valid range” error for the glass.  Is there a way to get around this?  Since it is a black box lens, I can’t go into the glass catalog to make the range larger.

I just noticed this in the user manual in The Setup Tab > Systems Group (the Setup Tab) > System Explorer > Units  It seems the “References on Lens Design” section of the manual used to have this heading. An internet search did not yield any older manuals with a “What doesn’t OpticStudio do?” section, but changing my search to “What doesn’t Zemax do?” resulted in a manual from 2011.  

The summary is in the text file. The way to save text files from the API is to use the “Output to File” entry that lives in the Classic tab of the Tolerancing tool in the OS GUI. This will save the tolerancing output by the name specified in the same folder that the system is in (be sure to include .TXT to the end). The corresponding API code for this is below:tol.OutputFile = "OutputName.TXT"To store the MonteCarlo and sensitivity data, we need to use the tolerance data viewer to open the saved ztd file and then store the dataset.In order to save the .ZTD files from the ZOS-API, you will need to use the SaveTolDataFile property, and you may set the filename via TolDataFile under ZOSAPI.Tools.Tolerancing.ITolerancing Interface Reference:tol.SaveTolDataFile = Truetol.TolDataFile = "myFile.ztd"Then, once the tolerancing is done, from the Tolerance Data Viewer, you may read the created .ZTD files, by defining the file name and then running the tool. The corresponding python code is as fol

Dear all,I am performing a tolerance analysis in combination with Physical Optics Propagation, and I am noticing a computational time that is a lot longer than expected.More specifically, I am doing a sensitivity analysis using the merit function as the criterion, and with a thickness compensator (COMP) using 5 optimization cycles. The merit function is the fiber coupling efficiency calculated using POP.  The system itself is quite simple, with a single lens to perform the fiber coupling. The file is found in attachment.To investigate the very long computational time, I compared the sensitivity analysis of a single operand both when done manually, and when done using the tolerance tool.Manually, I changed the value of the operand and then ran the optimizer, taking around 2 minutes:Using the tolerance tool, I added the compensator and single operand in the tolerance data editor, and ran the tolerancing tool, which took around 12 minutes on a multi-core processor. This is more than doubl

Hi,This is Oliver. I’m currently working on an optical fiber endoscope project, where minimizing back reflections is critical for our application in optical coherence tomography (OCT).In particular, I’m looking to quantify the back reflections from specific lens surfaces—such as the ball lens-air interface highlighted in the attached figure. The system involves a single-mode fiber launching light through a segment of coreless fiber and a ball lens. The majority of the back reflections appear to originate from the ball lens-air interface.My goal is to use Zemax to estimate the amount of power reflected back into the single-mode fiber. For example, if the input power is 10 mW, is it possible to calculate the power reflected back toward the source in Zemax?Ultimately, I plan to optimize the material and geometry of the ball lens to minimize these reflections. I’ve attached the Zemax file for your reference, and I would appreciate any guidance or suggestions on how best to approach this an

I am using zemax student version. Can anyone tell me how to design optical fiber?

Is there an operand for lens edge thickness in non seq mode? (for standard lens object)

Hi, I am new to using Zemax I am trying to use the PSF functionality to simulate how the PSF/focused beam size changes with input beam size.Since the imaging is diffraction-limited, I assume I can only use PSF functionality to determine the output beam size. How do I change the input beam size/will this change the PSF result?  Can I set the input beam to be Gaussian? This is what we have in our real system.

Hello, so far I was under the impression that the EFLY/EFLX operands ignore all Zernike coefficients (e.g. of Biconic Zernike surface) and purely consider the radii of curvature . Now I discovered that the coefficient “Zernike 4” and its effect on the curvature is considered for EFL calculation. Although the Zernike 4 polynomial is proportional to r² and thus directly changes the effective radius of curvature, it is by far the not the only Zernike polynomial effecting the EFL in X- and Y-direction (e.g. Zernikes 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, ...).  Is this change in EFL calculation a bug or intented? What was the OpticStudio release this change in ELFY/EFLX was introduced with? I could not find any mentions in the release notes.  Best regards, Simon

Hi,I am trying to see the wavefront error due to surface deformations and also extract the zernike values with the help of STAR nodule in Zemax.The FEA data from NX is imported to STAR which I am fitting onto a flat mirror surface. After data fitting there is a difference in the wavefront map profile and the actual deformed surface profile.I am unable to understand what the cause may be. Any help is appreciated.Regards,Rishab

I have an optical design with GRIN lenses and want to tolerance it. How does tolerancing work with GRIN systems - is there anything that changes at all?For example - In which direction does doing a thickness tolerance remove/add GRIN material from? For example, if the part is 0.1 mm thicker, does it add GRIN based on the definition of n(x,y,z) and the gradient? What about when the part is toleranced to be thinner? Which section of GRIN material is removed? How does tolerancing index work? Does it apply a random offset to each part? Constant offset? Similarly, does the GRIN profile also get tilted when doing a tilt tolerance? Note - this is using a custom GRIN user defined *.dll. 

Zemax Team Hi,Please explain how Zemax calculates the amount of Geometrical Energy for “Y - only” / “X - only”  Type  and what does it mean?Is it a fraction from the “Encircled Geometrical Energy” ?Thanks in Advance,Tali M.

Hello,I am facing an issue in image simulation for my designed IR system which is showing a circular ring like patch. I am not sure whether this is an image simulation issue or there is some actual error in the system which is being reflected in the image simulation.The design also includes binary surfaces for chromatic aberration correction.Attached is the image simulation result.Any help is highly appreciated.Regards,Supravat.

hi,I would like to know how to report the angular coordinates of the chief ray relative to the vertex of a surface.specifically, i would like to report (or know the operand) of the angular X and Y coordinates ( the X and Y in the upper left of the image below).  

Hello. Is there a setting in Ansys OS 25 release to set hide/unhide the GUI Ribbon? I prefer to use maximum screen area if possible.The only way I think is to double-click the tab to hide/unhide.-Asuku

Hi all,I am studying the limits of a metrology instrument, and specially the FT lens contribution to systematic errors. For this purpose, I simplify my system by a source, a thick lens, and a detector. I study this configuration with 3 different ways:Using jones calculus. Using Zemax optic studio sequential mode piloted with Python loops. I simulate the exact same configuration as studied with jones calculus. I have 2 models: One using a ‘paraxial’ surface type with non-null thickness. The other one using a standard surface.  However, I obtain 3 different results, and I lack the experience to identify the difference in assumptions or hypothesis between the 3 cases. Could someone help me or point me in the right direction? A lot of thanks for your time, Théo Sieg-Letessier.

Not sure if this topic was discussed before, but I haven’t found it yet.Sometimes I need to export lenses to CAD file (STEP or X_T) including ray bundles for each object field. What is proper setting for having rays that can be viewed in program like Solidworks?For example I tried the setting below, but this STEP file didn’t display field cone rays in SW.  RegardsJS