VirtualLab Fusion 2026.1¶

Build: 2026.1 (Build 1.190)
Release Date: March 25, 2026
New Twins: more than 15

Executive Summary¶

VirtualLab Fusion 2026.1 fully embodies our vision of a virtual laboratory: every asset from a real lab is replaced by an Optical Digital Twin, all connected within the Digital Twin Platform for Light. The Optical Digital Twin Hub provides a central gateway to all sources, components, and detectors. Each twin communicates via a universal field-native protocol using electromagnetic fields, with the Field Tracing Engine orchestrating seamlessly to decouple the approximation level of light propagation and matter interaction from the field representation. This isn't conceptual architecture – it's engineering reality. After years of foundational R&D, VirtualLab Fusion 2026.1 delivers a truly interoperable platform where optics work as a system, not as isolated components.

A major highlight of this release is the Metalens Twin – a prime example of what intelligent twins can achieve. Its embedded surrogate model, trained once per meta-atom type across the full parameter space, replaces days of RCWA calculations with minutes of evaluation, turning design exploration and system-level validation from prohibitive to practical. But the Metalens Twin is just one of many. This release introduces a rich set of new and updated Optical Digital Twins across multiple packages, extending capabilities in flat optics, light shaping, and beyond.

Alongside the twin ecosystem, support for importing CODE V systems now enables seamless integration of existing lens designs into the VirtualLab Fusion environment – bridging legacy workflows with the future of optical simulation. Numerous additional enhancements across the platform further improve performance, usability, and visualization, all detailed in the sections below.

VirtualLab Fusion 2026.1 marks not just a new version, but the beginning of a new era in optical design: a truly interoperable platform where simulation intelligence lives where it belongs – in the twins.

What Are Optical Digital Twins?¶

Source Twins – Know how to generate light
Component Twins – Know how to transform light
Object Twins – Know how light interacts with objects
Detector Twins – Know how to measure light

• Each optical digital twin is an intelligent, autonomous agent.
• It mimics the optical behavior of its real counterpart.
• Stop worrying about patching software products together.
• Start building systems in a unified way.

How It Works: Three Enablers + One Orchestrator¶

1. Intelligent, self-modeling twins
Each twin has its own built-in simulation model.

2. A universal language
All twins communicate through electromagnetic fields.

3. Unlink approximation from representation
Approximations live in propagation, not in light data.

4. The Field Tracing Engine
Orchestrates light flow between twins. Never interferes in twins' simulation models.

Result: A lens twin, modeled by geometrical optics for fields, and a grating twin, modeled by a rigorous Maxwell solver, work together seamlessly.

Optical Digital Twin Hub¶

VirtualLab Fusion 2026.1 introduces the Optical Digital Twin Hub – your central gateway to a new paradigm in optical modeling.

Check out our Tutorial - Using the Optical Digital Twin Hub.

What the Hub Enables¶

• Centralized access to all twins in one unified interface
• Mix and match sources, components, objects, and detectors freely
• Build complex systems from verified, simulation-ready blocks

Digital Twins¶

New Digital Twins 🆕¶

Updated Digital Twins 🔄¶

With VirtualLab Fusion 2026.1, several Optical Digital Twins have been renamed to improve clarity and consistency across the platform. A complete list of all renamed twins can be found here: List of Renamed Twins in v2026.1.

Missing a Twin? 🔍¶

Your twin isn't in the list? Two ways forward:

About Twin SDKs¶

Can't find the digital twin you need? Two options:

Option 1: 📧 Request it – Contact us at support@lighttrans.com. Help us decide which twins come next.

Option 2: 🔧 Build it yourself – Use our Twin SDKs to create custom digital twins:

Metalens Simulation¶

VirtualLab Fusion 2026.1 introduces a breakthrough in meta-optics simulation: surrogate models that make metalens simulation and design practical for real-world optical systems.

The Challenge¶

Accurate metalens simulation requires solving Maxwell's equations for millions of meta-atoms – a computationally intensive and time-consuming task that makes testing different designs or integrating metalenses into complete systems impractical.

Our Solution: Surrogate Models¶

Compute once, use everywhere.

Instead of running RCWA (Rigorous Coupled-Wave Analysis) on the fly for every meta-atom during metalens design and simulation, we train a neural network surrogate model once per meta-atom type. This training covers the full parameter space of meta-atom geometries and incident light conditions, requiring many RCWA calculations – but only once. The resulting surrogate model is then bound to the metalens, enabling near-instantaneous design and simulation.

What This Enables¶

• Instant metalens design – Explore thousands of variations in minutes
• System-level validation – Place your metalens in complete optical systems immediately
• Rapid prototyping – Go from concept to validated design in hours, not weeks

Integrated in Systems by Multiscale Simulation¶

The metalens twin comes with its own simulation model in the form of a bound surrogate model. Like all twins, it works seamlessly with other components – including traditional lenses, gratings, and any type of source. This enables the seamless integration of metalenses into conventional optical systems, supporting PSF/MTF and aberration analysis. Metalenses with apertures of several millimeters are easily handled, with simulation times still measured in minutes.

Additional Enhancements¶

Import/Export¶

• VirtualLab Fusion 2026.1 now supports importing optical setups from Code V SEQ files. This allows you to seamlessly transfer existing designs into the VirtualLab environment for further analysis and simulation.

Core Updates¶

• The underlying .NET framework has been updated from version 4.8 to .NET 8.0, resulting in improved performance and stability across the entire application.

• Files saved in the old binary format are no longer directly loadable. An external converter is now automatically called when such files are opened. Since this conversion process is significantly slower than normal loading, we recommend saving converted files immediately after loading to avoid repeated conversions.

• Server-client communication for distributed computing now uses XML data transfer. Additionally, the server support can now be started directly from within VirtualLab Fusion.

• Terminology update: The "Ray Result Profile" has been renamed to Ray Tracing, and the "General Profile" has been renamed to Field Tracing. This change makes the simulation methods more intuitive and clearer to understand.

View Improvements¶

• The 3D visualization mode for Data Arrays has been completely renewed, offering improved rendering and better insight into your data.

• The 1D view for Harmonic Fields and Harmonic Fields Sets has been modernized. It now uses the same technology as 1D Data Arrays, providing a cleaner appearance and enabling future enhancements.

• The color scales of 2D Data Arrays now display more than just three ticks. When hovering over a color scale, you can now see the exact value associated with each color.

• For Programmable Surfaces, a visualization of the programmed derivatives has been added, making it easier to verify and debug your custom surfaces.

Usability & Performance¶

• Physical unit textboxes have been improved: invalid values are now marked in red instead of being silently reset, making it easier to identify and correct input errors. Additionally, you have more options to set the precision of values via the context menu.

• 3D Ray Distributions with a large number of rays now load significantly faster, improving the workflow when analyzing complex ray paths.

• The Select Tracing Sequence dialog has been optimized for better performance, making it more responsive when working with complex optical setups.

• The material catalog now stores less data, which reduces memory usage and decreases the time required to load it.

• For Parameter Run and Parametric Optimization, power management is now applied only once unless parameters of the active light source are being varied. This avoids unnecessary overhead and speeds up calculations.

Optical Setup Tools¶

• New options have been added to the context menu of nodes in the Optical Setup View: Split Component, Insert Element, Exclude Element, and Exchange Elements. These tools give you more flexibility when modifying your optical system.

• You can now toggle the active light source by simply dragging a linkage from the currently active source to the new light source. This makes switching between different sources more intuitive and efficient.

Detector Improvements¶

• The following detectors in the main window now also work with gridless Data Arrays:
  • Average
  • Complex Histogram
  • Minimum
  • Maximum
  • Standard Deviation

Animation Generation¶

• Two new combined output types are now available:

  • Physical Values to Animation of Marker Positions
  • 1D Data Arrays to Animation

• The Create Animation functionality has been extended. The ribbon item is now also available for:

  • One-dimensional Data Arrays
  • Chromatic Fields Sets
  • Sets of Objects

System Requirements¶

For detailed system requirements, please refer to the System Requirements page.

Last updated: 2026-03-15