Positions in Light Path Diagram
The concept of positioning in Light Path Diagrams shall be outlined here by a part of the VirtualLab™ Manual (Chapter 5.1)
A Light Path Diagram is associated with a global coordinate system (GCS), while every Light Path Element (LPE) owns two or three kinds of (righthanded) coordinate systems (CS):
- Internal Coordinate System (ICS): Unambiguously specified coordinate system which is related to the inner structure of the LPE. Its origin defines the position of the element in the global coordinate system.
- Input Axis Coordinate System (IACS, components and detectors only): The Z-axis of this coordinate system defines the typical input direction of light. The position of the origin and the orientation of the X- and Y-axes are related to the structure of the LPE (see Sec. 5.1.5.1).
- Output Axis Coordinate Systems (OACS, components and light sources only): The Z-axis of an output channel coordinate system defines the typical output direction for the channel. The position of the origin and the orientation of the X- and Y-axes are related to the structure of the LPE (see Sec. 5.1.5.1).
The positioning of Light Path Elements is done by defining the relative position and orientation of the IACS with reference to the output axis CS of the previous Element in path. This principle is shown in the sketch below and explained in section Sec. 5.1.5.2.
- Principle of positioning of LightPath Elements. The blue coordinate system is the output axis CS of the previous element while the green one indicates the input axis CS of the element to position. Its origin is translated by the axial distance ΔZ and a lateral shift ΔX. Its orientation is rotated by η, which means a tilt of the LPE about the Y-axis. The red coordinate system is the Internal CS of the element.
