1 Tools, Features, and Capabilities

1.1 New Ray Aiming Algorithm: Enhanced Ray Aiming (All editions)

A new ray aiming algorithm for wide-angle systems.

A new ray aiming algorithm has been added, specifically designed for innovative applications that require a wide field-of-view (such as machine vision, surveillance cameras on drones, cameras for autonomous vehicles as well as cell phone lenses). Significant improvements have been made to address issues in situations where existing algorithms have struggled, such as “cannot trace” errors and discontinuities in analyses that can occur when using the existing ray aiming algorithm. This new method is called Enhanced Ray Aiming and can be found in the Ray Aiming section of the System Explorer. With the 22.1 release, this new method initially supports rotationally symmetric wide field-of-view systems.

1.2 ​Non-Sequential Off-axis Mirror improvements (Professional and Premium editions)

The Non-Sequential Off-axis Mirror now supports freeform terms and more.

New freeform parameters have been added to the Non-Sequential Off-axis Mirror object, enabling the front surface of the object to support a wider variety of shapes. The additions support the growing complexity of off-axis mirror geometries that are becoming commonplace in advanced optical designs. These additions also make it possible for more sequential surfaces to be converted into the Non-Sequential Off-Axis Mirror object when using the Convert to NSC Group tool. User-Defined Apertures can now also be added to the Non-Sequential Off-Axis Mirror, further increasing the design capabilities available when using this object as a part of an imaging or illumination system. 

1.3 Non-Sequential Diffraction analyses for Volume Holograms (Professional and Premium editions, Subscription only)

Analyze the diffraction efficiency of volume holograms in Non-Sequential Mode.

Three new diffraction efficiency analyses are added to Non-Sequential Mode to analyze volume holograms constructed with Hologram Lens, Hologram Surface, and Toroidal Hologram objects. The diffraction efficiency can be visualized over the specified ranges of wavelength and angles of incidence onto the hologram’s surface, providing detailed insight on the performance of the hologram as a function of the construction parameters.

1.4 Updated Surface-Relief Grating DLLs using the RCWA method (Premium edition, Subscription only)

Improved accuracy when modelling diffraction gratings with highly refractive materials.

Fast Fourier Factorization is implemented in the latest RCWA DLLs. This enhancement to the algorithm improves the accuracy when a grating includes materials with high refractive indices. This is especially important when a grating includes metal, as they usually have a very large value for the imaginary part of the refractive index. Such gratings are widely used in components for terahertz technology, some IR systems, and AR headsets.

1.5 STAR: Multiple Wavelength support (Professional and Premium editions, Subscription only. Requires a STAR Module license)

STAR now supports multiple wavelengths as defined in the System Explorer.

To support a wide range of optical applications in which spectral response is critical to the system design – such as cameras for autonomous vehicles, cell phone lenses, and guided laser cutting tools – STAR now considers all the wavelengths in the System Explorer when fitting FEA datasets. Also, a wavelength option is added to some of the STAR analyses to allow the performance of the optical system to be viewed at the selected wavelength.

Note: FEA datasets will need to be refit on previously saved .ZMX and .ZOS files to work with the improved fitting algorithm.

1.6 STAR: Thermal Index Plot (Professional and Premium editions, Subscription only. Requires a STAR Module license)

This new analysis shows how index changes over the temperature range in the FEA data.

The Thermal Index Plot displays a plot of Index vs. Temperature for the temperature range that is in a thermal FEA dataset assigned to a surface. This means the effect of the temperature can be better visualized for each specific surface. The index range column shows which lens experiences the largest optical change due to thermal FEA datasets

1.7 STAR: FEA Data Viewer (Professional and Premium editions, Subscription only. Requires a STAR Module license)

Inspect an FEA dataset without loading it into your system.

The new FEA Data Viewer analysis allows you to visualize an FEA dataset without the need to load it into your system. This tool will also show key parameters about the data in text form such as dimensions and center location. This way you can verify that you’re using the correct FEA dataset and avoid errors before loading and working with the data.

1.8 Updates to Prepare for OpticsBuilder (All editions)

Enable interactive chief rays in OpticsBuilder.

With the improved Prepare for OpticsBuilder tool, you can now define the aperture stop so that chief rays can be created in OpticsBuilder. Chief rays can then be used by CAD users as interactive rays for alignment in order to accurately assemble the mechanical components.

In sequential mode, you simply check Convert STOP Surface to Hard Aperture in the Pupil Definition section to enable an absorbing physical aperture in OpticsBuilder. In non-sequential mode, you can select the object that makes up the Stop surface from the Stop Surface/Object drop-down.

The user interface of the Prepare for OpticsBuilder tool was also updated. The settings are now grouped by functionality to reflect the workflow of how the CAD user works in OpticsBuilder.

1.9 More file types supported by Project Directories (All editions)

The Project Directory now supports even more of your files.

Introduced in OpticStudio 21.3, the Project Directory system enables easy packaging and storage of important Zemax files so that they can be easily accessed a manipulated on a project-by-project basis. A Project Directory can be created from an existing OpticStudio design by using the Convert to Project Directory button in the File tab.

With OS 22.1, Project Directories now also support the following file types:

• STOP files (.ZST, .TXT)
• Phosphors and Fluorescence files (.ZAS, .ZES, .ZQE)
• Polygon Object files (.POB)

2 Feature Experiments

2.1 Ray Aiming Wizard (All editions)

Get advice on which Ray Aiming settings to choose for your system.

The OpticStudio 22.1 release also features an exciting new Feature Experiment, called the Ray Aiming Wizard. This tool provides the necessary data for you to determine the optimal ray-aiming settings for your system, including the new Enhanced Ray Aiming method. With the new Ray Aiming Wizard, you will know when and how to use ray aiming to get accurate system analysis and modeling. You can find this tool in the Ray Aiming section of the System Explorer in sequential mode. To enable this Feature Experiment, select Help > Feature Experiments > Ray Aiming Wizard. Please provide your feedback on the Zemax Community Forum.

3 Programming

3.1 Mathematica ZOS-API templates (Professional and Premium editions)

New templates to create ZOS-API.NET applications using Mathematica

Two new templates are added in the Programming tab making it easier to start Mathematica projects that utilize the ZOS-API. The templates included are for the creation of standalone applications and interactive extensions using Mathematica.

3.2 Mathematica ZOS-API examples (Professional and Premium editions)

New examples showing how to create ZOS-API.NET scripts using Mathematica

Several new examples are added to the ZOS-API Syntax Help. These examples cover various workflows from creating and setting up a lens system, pulling data from an analysis, running an optimization, and many more. You can also find corresponding Mathematica notebook files (.NB) in your Zemax Data folder.

4 Libraries and Catalogs

4.1 Catalog updates (All editions)

Get the latest material catalogs from CDGM

The CDGM material catalog has been updated to include 16 new materials, expanded wavelengths materials, and updated thermal coefficients for some existing materials.

5 Bug Fixes

• Tolerance Data Viewer – An issue was fixed where the Summary tab in the Tolerance Data Viewer incorrectly reported merit function values of zero for Monte Carlo trials in which ray tracing was unsuccessful. The Summary tab now shows the tracing error message(s) for these trials, consistent with the 9e9 values given in the Mote Carlo tab of the Tolerance Data Viewer.
• Tolerance Data Viewer – Another issue was resolved where the Sensitivity tab gave incorrect and missing data which was inconsistent with the values shown for each tolerance operand in the Summary tab. This was occurring due to the TEDX/Y and TETX/Y operands not being correctly added to the Sensitivity table when these acted on a non-sequential surface in sequential mode. The Sensitivity tab now correctly includes these operands in this situation, and the data reported are consistent with those shown in the Summary tab.
• VOLU operand – The VOLU operand now correctly calculates the volume for cases where the lens surfaces are not spherical but still have axial symmetry and mechanical semi-diameters are not equal to the clear semi-diameters.
• ZOS-API – All combination values were added to the NSCTraceOptions enum to work around unsupported bitwise OR operations in some languages (Matlab, Python).

6 SolidWorks Compatibility

Due to a decision made unilaterally by Dassault Systemes, the CAD Link: SolidWorks functionality in OpticStudio is no longer supported as of December 31, 2021. With the release of OpticStudio 22.1, you will no longer have a dynamic link to parts and assembly files created in SolidWorks. This means that you will no longer be able to expose the dimensions of those parts in OpticStudio for purposes of modifying, optimizing, or tolerancing.

When you open a file containing a CAD Part: SolidWorks or CAD Assembly: SolidWorks object, the object will be converted to a CAD Part: STEP/IGES/SAT object and the actual SolidWorks model (stored as either an .SLDPRT or .SLDASM file) will be converted to an SAT file (.sat). The converted file will be saved to the Objects\CAD Files folder while the original file will persist. Workflows such as straylight analysis will still provide results with the same fidelity and accuracy.

The CAD links with Autodesk Inventor and Creo Parametric tools remain unaffected, and we will continue to fully support them, enabling full dynamic modification, optimization and tolerancing of CAD parts created with these tools. A modified object that was originally created by Inventor or Creo Parametric can also be saved back into the format of the creating program to maintain the fidelity of the optical model.

To read the FAQ on this topic, please visit https://www.zemax.com/pages/information-for-zemax-customers-using-solidworks.