New VirtualLab Fusion Product Family
We differentiate between the multiscale optical simulation and design software VirtualLab Fusion as the platform, and additional packages, which can be combined to suit your needs.
Capabilities of VirtualLab Fusion’s Core Functionality
- While many software solutions can handle classical optical elements such as lenses,
mirrors, and prisms, VirtualLab Fusion not only matches these capabilities but surpasses them,
offering advanced features that make it truly unique.
- What sets VirtualLab Fusion apart is its ability to go beyond traditional ray optics, providing
unparalleled precision in areas where conventional tools fall short.
Pushing the Boundaries of Optical System Design
VirtualLab Fusion builds on its strong foundation in traditional optical design while offering advanced capabilities that extend far beyond the basics, unlocking new possibilities in complex applications:
|
|
Key Areas of Excellence
Beyond traditional optical design, VirtualLab Fusion offers unique capabilities that set it apart:
|
|
VirtualLab Fusion's Packages
Enhancing Your Capabilities
The platform, which includes both classical optical design tools and advanced diffraction, coherence, and polarization modeling capabilities, can be further expanded with seven specialized packages.
Advantages of the Package Approach:
|
|
Grating Package
The Grating Package enhances VirtualLab Fusion with powerful tools for designing and analyzing diffraction gratings.
It introduces the Fourier Modal Method (FMM) solver, also known as Rigorous Coupled-Wave Analysis (RCWA) a full-vector solver for Maxwell’s equations that accurately models 1D and 2D periodic structures.
Key Features of the Grating Package
- Fourier Modal Method (FMM) Solver
This rigorous solver provides high-precision simulations for periodic structures, making it an essential tool for designing complex gratings. Note: The FMM solver is exclusive to this package. Any design requiring it will need a VLF license extended with this package.
- General Grating Component
Expands VirtualLab Fusion’s component library with a dedicated General Grating Component, allowing for detailed grating designs within your optical setups.
- Predefined Optical Setup for Grating Design & Optimization
A dedicated workbench is included for designing and optimizing gratings. Once a structure is finalized, it can be saved as a user-defined element in the catalogue and later integrated into other optical designs.
- Grating Order Analyzer Tool
This specialized tool calculates diffraction order efficiencies, enabling seamless transformation of a grating design into a Diffraction Efficiency Function. This function allows you to reuse the design across different tools.
How the Grating Package Extends VirtualLab Fusion
Without this package, VirtualLab Fusion models gratings using the Thin Element Approximation (TEA), which represents them as phase functions. While TEA can provide reasonable results for gratings with periods much larger than the wavelength, it lacks accuracy for more complex structures.
Additionally, if you're working on Virtual Reality applications and using the AR|VR|XR Package, having the Grating Package is highly beneficial. It enables the inclusion of realistic gratings in waveguide (lightguide) designs for more accurate and physically valid simulations.
Diffractive Optics Package
The Diffractive Optics Package extends VirtualLab Fusion with powerful tools for designing and simulating diffractive optical elements (DOEs).
It adds specialized session editors, interactive assistants that guide users through the simulation setup, along with the Iterative Fourier Transform Algorithm (IFTA), a key method for DOE design.
The goal of DOE design is to create a diffractive element that generates a specific intensity distribution in the far field. However, a common limitation in many DOE designs is that only the phase of the incoming wave can be modified, not its amplitude. Other factors, such as restrictions on the phase range or specific geometric requirements, can also impact the design. In all cases, these conditions prevent an exact solution, meaning that the best possible approximation must be found.
To achieve this, IFTA iteratively refines the DOE’s phase profile. It alternates between the spatial and Fourier domains, progressively adjusting the phase while ensuring that the generated intensity pattern gets as close as possible to the desired target. This approach enables the efficient and accurate design of DOEs for beam shaping, structured illumination, and other diffractive optics applications.
How the Grating Package Extends VirtualLab Fusion
The Diffractive Optics Package in VirtualLab Fusion makes applying the IFTA method easy and intuitive. It includes session editors, interactive assistants that guide users through the setup of their simulations. The dedicated wizards for different types of diffractive optics simplify the design process and ensure a smooth workflow from defining specifications to obtaining an optimized DOE.
Flat Lens Package
- The Flat Lens Package includes all additional features of the old Diffractive Optics Toolbox Gold, i.e. the modeling of diffractive lenses by local linear grating approximation and the modeling of meta lenses by specialized solvers.
- The Flat Lens Package can be ordered independently of the Diffractive Optics Package.
Light Shaping Package
With this package added to VirtualLab Fusion, you gain the capability to design cell-based light-shaping elements that redirect light to create specific illumination patterns.
- Including mirror cells, prism cells, and grating cells.
AR|VR|XR Package
For modeling and designing waveguides (or lightguides) with grating couplers ( i.e. surface relief and holographic gratings), the Light Guide Toolbox has been provided so far.
- In VLF 2023.2, the Light Guide Toolbox is renamed to the AR/VR/XR Package which contains all features of the silver and the gold edition of the former toolbox*.
*Note: All users of the previous Light Guide Toolbox silver will automatically receive the new AR/VR/XR Package as well.
Distributed Computing Package
With VLF 2023.2 we release the Distributed Computing Package as a new member of the VirtualLab Fusion product family.
- The Distributed Computing Package allows you to use network resources to speed up your simulations.
- Your workflow for modeling remains unchanged the time for complex simulations is just shortened.
Optimization Package
With VirtualLab Fusion 2024.1 the Optimization Package has been released as the newest member of the VirtualLab Fusion product family.
- It contains powerful local and global optimization algorithms to design a system according to your merit functions.
- The intuitive and user-friendly interface will guide you through the optimization process.
- Powerful post-processing tools will enable you to understand the development of merit function values during the optimization process.
Buying VirtualLab Fusion
You purchase a perpetual license of VirtualLab Fusion. The price includes 12 months update service for the software. We also offer special licenses for teaching – please contact our sales team.
If you are interested in purchasing our software, please fill out the form.
Trial Version
If you would like to test our softwaren, please fill out our request form.
Limited Features:
- Saving of documents to hard disk is disabled. However, support files of light path diagrams can be saved. Those files can be sent to LightTrans for support purposes.
- Programming of snippets, programmable components and programmable detectors is disabled. However, snippets, programmable components and programmable detectors provided as part of documents (light path diagrams, parameter run) or in catalogs can be used.
- C# modules cannot be executed.
Limited Usage:
- Can be started 50 times, each session is limited to 12 hours.
- No dongle required.
Limited License:
- Special license agreement that excludes commercial usage of results.
Evaluation Version
Full version for final evaluation, typically all toolboxes of VirtualLab Fusion.
Limited Usage:
- Typically restricted to 30 days.
Limited License:
- Special license agreement has to be signed by the customer. Usage is restricted to evaluation purposes.
Network Version
- Available option for VirtualLab Fusion, that is, no limitation and no additional features.
- Can be used in a network, that is, the dongle is connected to a server and users can work on remote computers that have to have access to the server via network.
- VirtualLab Fusion can be used at as many computers as licenses have been purchased. These computers can run VirtualLab Fusion simultaneously.
- Note that when used without a network, the use of VirtualLab Fusion is limited to the computer to which the dongle is connected.
