Update Descriptions

New features in OPTISCAN version 6.1

  1. Compatability with MATLAB 6.5.
  2. Detector Layer Option: Located in the Detector Properties Editor. A new feature added to the Simple Responsivity Detector that allows the user to have multiple layers inside one detector object.
  3. Fiber Detector: Located in the build menu of the project workspace. Calculates the coupling efficiency of an optical fiber.
  4. Optical Fiber Calculator: Located in the accessories menu of the project workspace. Calculates the 1/e2 radius of the |E|2 Gaussian propagation mode in a single mode fiber.
  5. TFT Calculator: Located in the accessories menu of the project workspace. Calculates the transmission and reflectivity of a multi-layer thin film structure.
  6. Waveguide Analyzer: Located in the accessories menu of the project workspace. The OSC Wave program that functionally evaluates a waveguide. It provides the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of the scalar wave equation for the principle component of the electric field of all bound modes.
  7. Time Stamp: A time stamp is now included in detector output files.
  8. Added Examples to Help Pages:
    1. Custom Pattern Generator
    2. Optical Fiber Calculator
    3. Laser Diode Calculator
    4. Gaussian Beamwidth Calculator
    5. TFT Calculator
  9. PDF version of the user’s guide now available.
  10. Because the diffraction calculation is done with sampling of the numerical aperture both in image space and object space, this will cause the XY coordinates in diffraction simulation results to not match the first order expectation. At low NA, the mismatch is quite small; however, we have to correct the difference between SIN (Numerical Aperture) and TAN (First Order).

New features in OPTISCAN version 6.0

  1. Compatibility with Matlab v6.0 and v6.1
  2. Improvements to the GUI Delta object:
    • The GUI Delta object can now be used to change lens parameters.
    • Layer specific variables for the MO and TFT objects can now be changed (previously only the overall variables could be changed).
    • Monte-Carlo analysis can now be done using the GUI Delta. Both uniformly distributed random numbers and gaussian distributed random numbers can be generated.
    • RSS analysis is now available, and we have a highly experimental version of the auto range option.
  3. XFDTD Conversion Calculators: These Calculators are used to interface time-domain output of the XFDTD finite difference – time domain program from Remcom, Inc., to Optiscan. XFDTD produces files that contain snapshots of the electric field from near-field geometries. The calculator converts XFDTD time-domain data into complex amplitude and phase for x, y, and z polarization directions. Complex data are in Matlab matrix format. Please see the help files for more information.
  4. Improvements to the 2D viewer:
    • A new option is added that allows the user to save the current layer to a new file for use in another object.
    • A menu of several color maps is available so the user can easily switch between different views of the same data. The available color maps are: jet, hot, gray, and hsv. Other color maps and figure operations can be entered via the Matlab command line.
  5. Laser diode calculator: The Laser Diode Calculator is a shortcut to calculate field distributions for known laser diodes. One of the main uses of this calculator is to lookup or calculate values to use in the custom pattern generator. Most laser diode specifications list far field divergence in degrees, while Optiscan works with the spot size in meters.
  6. Transmission target: A new target is available that operates on an incident two-dimensional field with a matrix representing complex index of refraction and depth information. See the help pages for more information.
  7. Various improvements are made to the optics module that allow better accuracy for high-NA systems and micro-optical systems.
  8. Propagation object (angular spectrum propagation):
    • Upgraded to work with negative distances.
    • The interface panel is updated to be more user friendly.
    • Now works with incoherent sources.
  9. Improved descriptions of the reflection target and the new transmission target are available in the help pages.
  10. Version 10 Zemax files can now be used with OPTISCAN. If OPTISCAN encounters part of the lens description that it can’t decode, that part of the lens description is printed in the command-line window.
  11. Axis menu in the Lensview panel: Axis settings, such as ‘normal’ and ‘equal’ can be entered via the menu bar
  12. User Notes Page: A new help page accessible from the Main help desk that lists miscellaneous notes for users.
  13. Detector help page: Help documentation is now available for the detector object.
  14. The ‘fir’ (first-order optics) command-line program in OPTISCAN now is activated by typing ‘optfir’. Please see the help pages for more detailed instruction on using command-line inputs in OPTISCAN.

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