1 Tools, Features, and Capabilities

1.1 Fold Mirror Tool Fixes

Fold your system to fit within tight, space-constrained assemblies.

A legacy tool in need of maintenance, the Fold Mirror Tool offers users a way to simulate their environment and place fold mirrors that allow their optical product to fit in tight space constraints. An overhaul of the tool addressed all known errors to make it less buggy for users. This important update also positions the Fold Mirror Tool for greater additional functionality in the future.

Fold Mirror Tool fixes include:

• Fold mirror uses “MIRROR” material instead of taking on optical properties from nearby components.

• Error messaging relating to the Fold Mirror Tool has been streamlined.

• Ensuring ray footprint boundaries are applied on all components when a fold mirror is present, and the Ray Footprint Boundaries tool has been chosen.

• Giving a correct preview that matches the applied final component placement when a mechanical sub-assembly is present.

• Setting a correct default fold mirror size (radius) to equal the referenced maximum clear aperture divided by the cosign of the tilting angle.

• Any crashes no longer occur when making changes to the fold mirror tool settings.

• Mechanical components are correctly assigned in the Optics Manager whereas previously they would sometimes be mistaken for optical components and moved to the wrong section of the Optics Manager.

• Ensuring that the Simulation feature will ray trace through a system that contains both a mirror from OpticStudio and a new fold mirror placed using the tool in OpticsBuilder.

2. Bug Fixes

OpticsBuilder for Creo 23.1 includes the following bug fixes:

• Off-Axis Mirror – The lens geometry did not change when the radius of the off-axis mirror was modified from 0 to another value through the Edit Optical Properties window.

• Detector Preview – The preview function was not showing the correct detector type after was changed in the Edit Optical Properties window.

• Optomechanical component appearance – If a user makes changes to an optical component using the CAD tools, it changes designation from optical to optomechanical. If the user then exported the .ZBD file and re-imported the .ZBD file, the appearance of this part was changed.

• Simulation precision – When changing the precision settings for a Simulation, the image on the detector was not updated.

• Boundary Rays – The Boundary Rays were hidden after closing and adding a new .ZBD file into Creo without using the Creo function “Erase Not Displayed” to clear the local workspace.

3. Announcements

3.1 ISX Libraries Deprication

ISX scattering will be deprecated after 23.1 release.

The ISX scatter libraries will be removed from OpticsBuilder following the 23.1 release, as these libraries rely on obsolete Microsoft components that could potentially introduce IT or security vulnerabilities in the future. New BSDF scatter libraries will be made available in OpticsBuilder in a future release, based on a format that can be easily updated and maintained in a secure manner.

3.2 23.1 is the Last Legacy Release with New Features

Zemax OpticsBuilder 23.1 is the last major release for legacy Zemax OpticsBuilder licenses.

This is the last release that includes new functionality as well as bug fixes. After Zemax OpticsBuilder 23.1, only bug fixes will be released in service pack-style releases until the end of 2023.

In order to continue to have access to the latest features, consider migrating your license to the Ansys Zemax OpticsBuilder. For more details, please contact sales@zemax.com.