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I used Matlab to write a .ZBF text file for POP.  When Zemax reads the file in the irradiance is perfectly replicated but the phase is not; when non-zero the phase looks like random noise. This is very strange because you need to write the .ZBF file using Re and Im values for the field. Unless the Re and Im values are both correct in the file you can’t get the correct irradiance values. I have done this before and it worked so I had a friend with an older version of Zemax installed (22.1.2) check the same file. His version of Zemax correctly replicated the phase. I am using version 2023 R1.03 on a windows machine. Any ideas as to why this is happening? Did the .ZBF format change? Is there now a setting I need to adjust in Zemax when I import a file? Is this a known problem that has been fixed in an update?

 

Matlab intensity:

Zemax Intensity

Matlab Phase

My Zemax Phase:

Old Zemax Phase:

 

I got help from Ansys/OS/Zemax on this. Turns out I needed to check the “Separate X and Y” check box on the POP>Settings>General tab. More info below:

I isolated the issue to the Separate X,Y setting in the General tab of the POP settings.



This setting determines whether or not one or two pilot beams will be used to propagate the wavefront. When Separate X,Y is checked, two pilot beams will be used in the propagation; one for the X direction and one for the Y direction. Most importantly, the phase references will also be different in the X and Y directions. If the beam being propagated has significant asymmetry, having two pilot beams will improve accuracy.

To properly sample the phase for you ZBF file once it is loaded into POP, you should check the box for Separate X, Y. Once I did this, the phase looked as expected. Having two separate pilot beams for the X and Y directions helped to properly sample the beam. You can read more about this option in the help file in the following location: The Analyze Tab (sequential ui mode) » Laser and Fibers Group » About Physical Optics Propagation » Separation of X and Y Propagation.!gendif]-->!--!if>

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