Optical Modeling Beyond Ray Tracing
Modern optical systems may contain a large variety of optical components as for example refractive, diffractive, hybrid, Fresnel and GRIN lenses, diffractive optical elements, diffusers, beam shapers, diffractive beam splitters, computer generated holograms, phase plates, gratings, elements with free form surfaces and micro lens arrays. In addition light sources with different properties as for example degree of coherence, color and polarization can be used.
An efficient optical modeling requires the simulation of all of these types of components and sources with a high physical accuracy on a single software platform. LightTrans developed the concept of Field Tracing to perform these simulations. Field Tracing unified optical modeling techniques ranging from geometrical optics to electromagnetic approaches. It enables the simulation of optical systems including diffraction, interference, partial coherence, aberrations, polarization and vectorial effects.
The VirtualLab™ package integrates several toolboxes allowing the analyses of systems, design of diffractive optical elements and beam shapers, analysis of gratings and laser resonators.
Starter Toolbox
Flexible and high-precision optical modeling
The VirtualLab™ Starter Toolbox allows the analyses of laser systems, micro optical systems, diffractive optical systems, interferometers, imaging and illumination systems. Optical systems may contain components with features from micro meter to meter scale. Coherent, temporal and spatial partially coherent light can be modeled. [more]
Diffractive Optics Toolbox
Design of diffractive beam splitters, diffusers
and beam shapers
The VirtualLab™ Diffractive Optics Toolbox allows to design diffractive beam splitters, diffusers and beam shapers. These elements are also known as diffractive optical elements, computer generated holograms, phase plates or kinoforms. [more]
Grating Toolbox
Flexible efficiency and near-field analysis of gratings
The VirtualLab™ Grating Toolbox allows the rigorous electromagnetic analysis of 2D gratings, 3D gratings and photonic crystals with features from nanometer to millimeter scale. Diffraction efficiency, near field, polarization and the field inside gratings can be calculated. [more]
Laser Resonator Toolbox
Flexible eigenmode analysis of laser resonators
The VirtualLab™ Laser Resonator Toolbox allows the analysis of eigenmodes of stable laser resonators. The analysis includes the calculation of fundamental modes, higher order modes and eigenvalues. Index modulations of the active medium can be taken into account. Tolerance simulations enable the investigation of the stability of a resonator. [more]