What’s new in our Optical Modeling and Design Software?

Data arrays are the most fundamental native data type in VirtualLab Fusion. Such a data type may be instantiated on either an equidistant or a non-equidistant grid. Being a generic data type, they are among the most flexible data types as to introducing physical attribute, re-sampling and interpolation. Array computing is made easy thanks to VirtualLab Fusion’s user-friendly GUI where users could perform operations without writing for-loops. Furthermore, data visualization and analysis are done on GUI level as well, meaning that the users could configure graph settings in the property browser or extract and analyze data locally by the selection tools in VirtualLab Fusion. In this short video, we seek to illustrate the intuitive mindset behind VirtualLab Fusion’s infrastructure which helps many users around the globe in facilitation of data processing.

In modern optical systems very different kinds of elements are used in order to push the limits of our manipulation of light further and further. New elements are developed and traditional devices are steadily improved to obtain the desired functionality and performance, which not seldom increases the level of complexity of these components and the entire systems. VirtualLab Fusion with its fast physical-optics technology, that is based on the flexible and automatic connection of different field solvers, allows for an accurate modeling of your optical system and enables the detailed analysis of relevant effects.

The vector beam is a beam that is fully polarized but shows different polarization states in different local positions on one detector plane. More specifically, if a polarizer is put after a vector beam, different energy density distributions will be recorded as the polarizer is rotated. Vector beams are widely utilized in many applications such as microscopy imaging or laser manipulation.  Using an interferometer with a vortex-phase spatial light modulator (SLM) and wave plates a vector beam can be generated. However, the modeling of the generation process needs precise handling of the vectorial behavior and diffraction of the electromagnetic fields. VirtualLab Fusion, a fast physical optics software platform, is the perfect choice to model such beams. In VirtualLab Fusion,  the electromagnetic field propagation through an arbitrary system can be calculated as polarization and diffraction phenomena are automatically handled.

In optical modeling it is of necessity to be able to replicate the real world setup as accurately and in as much detail as required. This means that the detail level of the model has to be high enough to account for all relevant effects. The proper setting-up of a digital twin therefore necessitates the import of data and parameters of real elements and materials. This week, we focus on the import of the height profile of a microstructure and of material data into VirtualLab Fusion.

The optimization of a modern optical system often involves a large number of parameters. This leads to a challenging and numerically demanding task. For such cases, in addition to the Parametric Optimization feature provided by VirtualLab Fusion, we also offer an interface to the specialized optimization software ANSYS optiSLang, so that several of its advanced optimization algorithms can be applied directly on your optical system. With the optiSLang Bridge (requires a separate license for optiSLang) you can directly access the downhill simplex and especially the evolutionary algorithm from optiSLang without leaving VirtualLab Fusion, and the optimization results are also automatically returned in the VirtualLab Fusion session.

The Mach-Zehnder interferometer, invented in the early 1890s, soon became one of the most popular interferometric setups and is still today applied for certain applications. Due to its characteristic well-separated light paths, which are traversed only once, it is a highly configurable instrument (in contrast to e.g. the Michelson interferometer). Two 50:50 beam splitters are used to split a collimated beam into two parts and to subsequently superimpose them back together at the exit. VirtualLab Fusion enables the detailed modeling of the system, including the two 90° phase shifts caused by the real beam splitters. 

In VirtualLab Fusion any optical entity is treated as an object. These objects have specific characteristics and may be saved and re-used independently. Among the most known of these objects are the sources, components and detectors. VirtualLab Fusion comes equipped by default with an extensive list of predefined optical objects like a Gaussian source. Despite the versatility of all these „off-the-shelf“ components, there are situations in which maybe a specific part of a specialized optical setup cannot be covered with the available predefined objects. The good news is users may tackle this challenge with the help of customization in VirtualLab Fusion.

This weeks’ newsletter is dedicated to customization via programming. One easy way to configure a customized object is by programming a snippet. Snippets are programmable templates which specify a clear framework for users to generate their objective quickly. For an in-depth understanding of how snippets work, please check out our use cases below.

Did you already register for our online training course? If not, don’t miss the chance to learn from our optical engineering experts how to use VirtualLab Fusion efficiently. The online training will be held twice to adapt to different time zones worldwide.

15 – 16 March 2021 | 17:30 – 20:30 (CET)
17 – 18 March 2021 | 08:30 – 11:30 (CET)