Super-resolution microscopes – optical systems that can achieve resolution beyond Abbe’s well-known diffraction limit – have seen a wide array of uses, as obtaining the maximum possible resolution is one of the key objectives in this field. One approach to achieve this is the Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) concept. Here, a fluorescent specimen is illuminated by two lasers, with one of them shaped by a phase plate into a donut mode. Through chemical processes, the light re-emitted by the sample will stem from the central point of the donut mode only, which can be configured to be much smaller than a classical focal spot, hence increasing the resolution of the image.

The optical modeling and design software VirtualLab Fusion, with its collection of fully interoperable simulation algorithms on a single platform, offers the optical engineer all the necessary tools to fully investigate such systems, including all relevant effects.

In the documents linked below you will find a demonstration of an STED Microscope as well as a detailed look at our Multiple Light Source, a feature of particular importance for this example, since it gives full flexibility to define multiple emitters in a system and to switch each of them on and off independently as desired in order to isolate the different effects which may arise.

X-ray imaging has seen many applications in e.g. the areas of medical imaging and industrial inspection. A common design of X-ray imaging devices is based on the Talbot effect – a diffractive effect, where a periodic structure, like a grating, will produce the exact image of the structure at a certain distance behind it.

Being a software platform based on fast physical optics, VirtualLab Fusion offers suitable solvers to propagate light through such devices, including all diffractive effects. For a short demonstration of VirtualLab Fusion’s capabilities in this area, check out the examples below:

Fourier Transform spectroscopy – an optical metrology method that can be used to measure the optical spectrum of a source with a Michelson interferometer – is a
well-known technique commonly used in a wide range of applications that can go from investigating air or water quality to pharmaceutical analysis.

To help the optical designer understand all the effects that can play a role in such devices, the fast physical optics software VirtualLab Fusion provides all the necessary tools to perform a full propagation through these systems. This naturally includes all coherence and interference effects that are happening at the detector plane. Furthermore, through our new Detector Add-Ons, the user has access to all physical quantities that are of interest, such as irradiance or radiant flux.

Please take a look at the links below to find an example where the temporal coherence length of a polychromatic source is investigated through a Michelson interferometer, as well as some thorough documentation of our Detector Add-Ons.