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

Capacity for ever larger amounts of information is consistently sought after for optical communications and data transfer. One approach is to employ optical beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM), which can be generated, for instance, with spiral phase plates. Counterpart to its generation, the measurement of OAM, i.e., the decoding of the information, is of equal importance. Following the concept of M. P. J. Lavery et al., we demonstrate how to measure OAM with the help of two customized freeform optical elements in VirtualLab Fusion.

Optical beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM) have proved useful for different applications, from quantum optics to optical telecommunication and to microscopy. Different methods have been proposed for the generation of such beams and here we demonstrate, in VirtualLab Fusion, how to use a spiral phase plate to generate beams carrying OAM. A programmable interface is used to describe the spiral phase plate with customizable parameters, and the microstructure component is used for its modeling.

In order to adapt to different time zones worldwide, we will hold this webinar twice (all times CEST):

22 October | 10:00 – 11:00 & 18:00 – 19:00

By continuously decreasing the pixel size of CMOS sensors, better and better spatial resolution has been achieved in recent decades, with the tendency expected to continue. This, however, turns the spotlight onto the microlenses sitting on top of each pixel. Can a microlens still focus light as expected when the pixel size edges closer to the wavelength? We investigate this issue with VirtualLab Fusion at selected examples.

How to resolve better is an ever-present question in optical science, and how to judge the resolution of an optical system is therefore an important question. Following Ernst Karl Abbe (1840-1905) and John William Strutt, 3^rd Baron Rayleigh (1842-1919), we demonstrate Abbe’s resolution limit and the Rayleigh criterion in VirtualLab Fusion and show how to use both analyses to evaluate the performance of typical imaging systems.

Cylindrical vector beams have been found to be helpful in various applications. Following the work of X.-L. Wang et al., we build up an interferometric setup for the generation of vector beams. The setup consists of various types of optical components, including SLMs, gratings, apertures, waveplates and lenses. With the programmable function, the SLM transmission can be arbitrarily defined and varied, as in the example below. We demonstrate the generation of vector beams in VirtualLab Fusion and compare the results against those from the literature.

Webinar:
Simulation of Interferometric Setups | 30 September

Virtual Talk:
Simulation and Analysis of high-NA Freeform Surfaces | 7 October

Webinar:
Lightguides for Mixed Reality Glasses | 21 October
 

X-ray imaging technologies are often based on the Talbot effect and the self-imaging of gratings. Following the work of N. Morimoto et al., we selected three types of phase gratings and used each of them to build up single grating interferometers in VirtualLab Fusion. With proper Fourier transform settings, we calculate the self-images i.e. the diffraction patterns behind the phase gratings (modeled as transmission functions) and compare the results from different types of gratings.