Look & Feel

The video introduces the Optical Setup window in VirtualLab Fusion. You may think of the Optical Setup like an optical table where you add elements such as light sources, optical components and detectors. The elements are added by drag and drop and subsequently connected with wires to set their relative positions. It is important to note that the connections do not define light paths. The video shows how to configure a spherical wave and a detector, start a simulation, and check logs. 

Optical interfaces, such as glass-air interfaces, often allow four light channels: transmission from one side, transmission from the opposite side, and reflections on both sides. By default, VirtualLab Fusion preselects the channel that is most commonly used, which is the transmission of light coming from the source.

By switching the Light Path Finder to Manual Configuration, you can open or close any of these channels. This video demonstrates how to manage the four channels of lens surfaces and use this feature to analyze an optical system effectively.

VirtualLab Fusion offers powerful tools to provide deep insights into optical setups. By selecting the General Profile with automatic propagation, the software ensures that all physical optics effects are accurately considered throughout the system. Alternatively, users can opt for simpler propagation methods. The Ray Results Profile enforces point-by-point wavefront propagation, resulting in ray-based analysis of the optical setup. 

In this video, we examine a converging spherical wave with a high numerical aperture, incorporating a functional component that introduces trefoil aberrations. The focal region is explored, comparing the realistic view provided by the General Profile with the spot diagram produced by the Ray Results Profile. 

The Ray Results Profile is a key tool for analyzing the optical setup. By selecting System: 3D for the result visualization, the simulation generates a detailed 3D view of the optical system. This includes the rays, shown as they are generated through pointwise propagation of the wavefront, a method that completely neglects diffraction and interference effects. Additionally, cross-sections at intermediate planes are automatically produced and can be accessed via the 2D View tab in the result window.

The video also demonstrates how to customize the 3D view, including options for adjusting colors, perspective, and other parameters to tailor the graphic's appearance to your preferences.

The Profile Editor offers an advanced and intuitive way to access and configure parameters and settings in VirtualLab Fusion. While the traditional edit dialogs and parameter overview window remain available, the Profile Editor often proves more powerful, particularly when working with complex or large optical setups. Features such as the filter function enable you to quickly locate and modify specific parameters without the need to navigate through multiple dialogs.

Discover the full potential of the Profile Editor in the video, which highlights additional examples of how it streamlines and enhances the management of your optical designs.

The Parameter Overview in the Profile Editor (accessible via the Profile Editing & Run ribbon) lets you quickly view and edit all simulation parameters. It’s especially useful for locating hard-to-find parameters and comparing or adjusting similar ones across different elements using its filtering function.

This tool saves time and provides a clear overview of key parameters, especially for complex simulations. Instead of navigating through multiple windows, you can manage everything in one place, streamlining your workflow

The Profile Editor provides an intuitive way to configure the position and size of source modes. It’s especially helpful for setting up multiple light sources, as it allows you to view, compare, and adjust all sources side by side within a single window. This simplifies the process and ensures consistency across your setup.

The demonstration also highlights the Toggle Light Source button in the Layout Tools, which makes it quick and easy to switch between different sources during configuration.

In VirtualLab Fusion, each component includes its own solver. Configuring solver settings can be challenging in complex setups, but the Profile Editor simplifies this process by presenting all settings in a clear, tabular format. Settings can also be directly adjusted within the table for added convenience.

This demonstration illustrates a plane wave being focused by a plano-convex lens, with the field evaluated a few millimeters before the focal point. The results are compared across three configurations:

1. Pointwise propagation applied throughout.
2. Automatic propagation applied towards the detector.
3. Automatic propagation applied everywhere.

The three fast-access drop-down menus in the Profile Editing tools allow you to quickly select and adjust these propagation settings.

The Profile Editing Tool in the Profile Editing & Run ribbon lets users select the type of Fourier transform for free-space propagation. This propagation is divided into segments, such as from the source to the first component, between components, or from the last component to the detector.

Users can choose pointwise, integral, or automatic. The automatic mode prioritizes pointwise for speed but switches to integral when higher accuracy is needed.

Free-space propagation is a key aspect of multiscale optics simulation. However, highly accurate propagation can sometimes demand significant computational resources. To address this, it is important to balance speed and accuracy.

This can be done:

• For individual components via their edit dialogs.
• Using the Profile Editor, which provides a structured overview.
• System-wide for all components at once, using the Speed vs. Accuracy tool.

In this demonstration, a plane wave is configured at a significant angle to the z-axis. Logging plays a crucial role in the simulation, providing information about the Fourier transforms used and the criteria behind their selection.

While the light beam exhibits minimal divergence due to diffraction, it is far from paraxial. In such cases, disabling the paraxial approximation is essential.

The universal detector provides access to the electromagnetic field in any plane where it is positioned, along with the local polarization state.

In this demonstration, a donut mode is generated and analyzed. Polarization ellipses can be visualized alongside the field components by enabling the corresponding option in the detector's edit dialog. Alternatively, they can be calculated and added after the simulation is complete, assuming the required data is available.

For example, to display polarization in the xy-plane, both E_x and E_y data must be available in the detector.

VirtualLab Fusion simulates electromagnetic field propagation, with the light source defining initial field amplitudes. However, for radiant flux measurements, normalizing the source's emitted power is more effective.

The video demonstrates configuring source power in the Profile Editor, noting that the Power Management tab is accessible only with the General Profile activated. It also features examples analyzing transmittance at the air–fused silica interface, comparing simulations with analytical results from the Fresnel Effects Calculator to highlight the advantages of power management.

VirtualLab Fusion enables the generation of ray optical results, allowing the evaluation of ray positions, directions, and wavefront phases, with the latter corresponding to the optical path length. The video demonstrates a simple simulation involving a spherical wave and a universal detector. In the Ray Results Profile, a regular grid of rays is initialized at the source. The detector provides not only the positions of the rays but also the distributions of their directions and wavefront phases.

In the position visualization, triangles connecting adjacent rays at the source can be displayed. These connections persist as the rays propagate, maintaining their relationships throughout the simulation.

In VirtualLab Fusion, numerical data is stored in three types of arrays. The 1D and 2D data arrays store quantities at regularly spaced points in one or two dimensions, while gridless data arrays store values along with their irregular positions.

The Data Array ribbons become available when a data array plot is selected. These ribbons provide tools for selecting subsets of data, customizing plot appearance, manipulating data, and performing analyses, offering a versatile approach to data visualization and processing.

This video demonstrates how to enhance gridded data appearance with interpolation for 1D and 2D arrays, creating more realistic graphics.

Representation methods include:

• No Interpolation
• Pixelated View
• Real-Valued Smoothing (cubic interpolation between nearest neighbours)

The process for setting up additional interpolation methods is explained. The example emphasizes the need for caution when moving away from nearest-neighbour interpolation, as undersampled data can produce visual artifacts.

This video demonstrates three types of graphic add-ons: polarization ellipses, point clouds, and regions. These can be added via the Manipulations ribbon.

The video also shows how to customize their appearance using the view options:

• Toggle visibility on or off.
• Add arrows to polarization ellipses.
• Adjust line or dot thickness and region opacity.
• Set individual colors for each add-on.

These tools make it easy to tailor the graphic elements to your specific needs.