With VirtualLab Fusion, especially with the help of non-sequential field tracing, we show the working principle of a white-light Michelson interferometer, and demonstrate how it can be applied for optical metrology.

Since the famous Michelson-Morley experiment in 1887, the Michelson interferometer and its variations have continued to play an important role in optical research. Nowadays, one can still often find optical systems configured in the form of a Michelson interferometer, for example, in coherent scanning interferometry. With VirtualLab Fusion, especially with the help of non-sequential field tracing, we show the working principle of a white-light Michelson interferometer, and demonstrate how it can be applied for optical metrology.

We show effects for specific examples of objective lenses and demonstrate how to analyse focal spots using different detectors in VirtualLab Fusion.

High-NA (numerical aperture) lenses are typically used in optical microscopy or lithography, among other applications. It is known that the impact of the vectorial nature of electromagnetic fields is not negligible in such situations. A well-known effect that exemplifies the above is the asymmetry exhibited by the focal spot generated by a high-NA lens focusing a linearly polarized circular beam: the focal spot ceases to be circular and appears elongated. We show these effects for specific examples of objective lenses and demonstrate how to analyse focal spots using different detectors in VirtualLab Fusion.

With the help of programmable functions, the diffraction effects induced by different obstacles can be studied.

The first-time observation of Poisson’s (or Arago’s) spot in 1818 constituted one of the most relevant experiments in the history of optics, helping discard the (at the time) favored position of attributing a corpuscular nature to light. When Fresnel presented his theory of diffraction before the French Academy of Sciences, Poisson, a member of the committee, scoffed at the fact that Fresnel’s approach predicted a bright spot in the shadow of a circular obstacle placed in the way of a beam of light. Here, we demonstrate this effect in VirtualLab Fusion, and, with the help of programmable functions, also the diffraction effects caused by different obstacles can be studied. For the latter case, we present an example of the modeling of a double-slit via a functional embodiment.