I would like to develop my skills using optical design software packages and am wondering which are most in-demand by industry. Possibilities are Zemax, Code-V, or VirtualLab fusion.
Hi Dane
I would say it is not necessarily importanat which of the softwares that you develop your skills in as it is is importnat is to have an understanding of optical design principles for the applications which interest you. Zemax, Code-V, and VirtualLab fusion are all commerical packages for which you need a liscence but there are some trial versions and tutorials where you can learn the basics. A part from that i would take a look at the differences between each software and see which softwares the companies that interest you are using.
Synopsys-CODE V specialises in imaging systems design. With the capability to perform accurate and comprehensive optical design simulations, it allowing engineers to simulate and evaluate the performance of complex optical systems, such as lenses, telescopes, and imaging systems. They have tools like: Ray tracing, wavefront analysis, aberration analysis, beam propagation analysis, tolerancing, non-sequential modelling.
Meanwhile ZEEMAX is a optical design software with analysis, optimization, and simulation tools including lens design & optimization, ray tracing, optical analysis, stray light analysis, tolerancing, manufacturing data management. Its use spans a broader phonics field from optical design, imaging optics, lighting and illumination, lasers and fibers.
Finally VirtualLabFusion also offers ray tracing and physical optics field tracing methods. The software is useful in many applications, including diffractive optics, metasurfaces, gratings, diffusers, AR/VR glasses, advanced modeling of lens systems, fiber coupling, ultrashort laser physics, scattering and interferometry.
Good luck!
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Optical design experience is important, but finding the right software is a big decision looking at all the optical design package prices…
Synopsys Software like CodeV and Lighttools is the most expensive of all. Zemax comes second (or recently maybe first?). These are only available as subscription.
FRED is very good for non-sequential and coherent laser stuff. Quadoa is new, but very easy to use. Both of these have permanent digital or USB licenses.
There are a lot of alternatives to these still: ASAP, (Oslo? Tracepro?), Lumerical, LucidShape, WinLens3D, 3DOptix, Optalix? … You should first define your application(s), request the most promising demos and quotations, finally choose the most suitable one. Good luck!
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Regarding wave optics simulation software there are a few options varying in budget:
MEEP/EMOPT: On the freeware/shareware space there are 2 strong candidates: MEEP and EMOPT. Both are based on *NIX systems (e.g. Linux, Ubuntu and other similar, also somewhat runnable in MACOS). The first disadvantage is that it runs on Python command line, and there is no direct user interface. Therefore, the learning curve is significantly steeper than that of other licensed software. Nonetheless, both have very hefty tutorials to start with very common geometries to get started. The biggest downside is that there is no fixed user interface, so most geometries must be more or less done “mentally” or constantly draw the geometries to find the correct dimensions. For complex geometries, this problem scales accordingly.
COMSOL: COMSOL is great because of its multiphysics engine, allowing for complicated multi-stage devices. For very complex projects, this is a great combination of capabilities. For simple geometries and examples, it is possible to get reliable results rather fast. Nonetheless, as geometries and dimensions scale, it requires to have a deeper understanding of the underlying physics. As an example: Finding the modes of a waveguide is relatively easy and making a basic directional coupler is well documented. Nonetheless, for custom solutions (Custom materials, custom geometries) that slightly fall out of the base examples, it takes some time to understand the error messages. Support from COMSOL is great, but available information from Forums is severely outdated (down to a lot of information dating version 4, while it is currently at version 10).
Lumerical: As far as I understand this has a lot of great electromagnetics simulation suites (such as MODE for finding modes, CHARGE for adding electrostatics) and I think that from the examples I have seen online, it is rather helpful to start doing electromagnetic simulations and from most of my job searches in the past years, it is widely referenced for wave optics regime. I don’t have access to the software so I cannot vow for how good or bad it is.
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In the end I think that which software you specialize in does not matter too much, because for example if you have worked with MEEP or Lumerical or COMSOL, in the end the process to achieve simulations will mostly be defined by the company you end up working with, and what changes from Software to Software is: Setup, GUI and processes. If you have advantage for knowing a Software it may be good to start a new job (or if you absolutely require it due to Senior/Higher level technical positions), but as long as you know the standing principles behind each type of simulation, swapping between software suites does not matter too much at the end of the day.
As an analogy related to electronics design software (which I have more working experience with), I have 3 years 10 months experience with Cadence PCB Design Software. Whenever I applied for jobs, I put it as part of my experience, and when I had to use a different software (Namely Eagle or Altium) mostly I noticed that menus were in different locations, but the workflow is rather similar and is mostly defined by the companies you work for, including setting up libraries, leveraging older designs, company guidelines for documentation, etc.
Hi @Dane_Austin , many of these software packages are excellent choices. I have been using Zemax (Ansys Zemax OpticStudio) for many years. I have written a new book that shows how to use this software and perform some optical system designs with it. You can find out more info about this book here: Modern Classical Optical System Design - Book - IOPscience
Good luck!
~ Ronian
Dear Dane,
I will recommend 3DOptix for starting to develop your skill. For a new user, for an example Zemax accurately is not so easy. I will recommend you 3DOptix as with this 3DOptix you can design accurately as it’s user-friendly for new user as well. The intuitive tools and visual aids simplify the design process. To create a Newtonian telescope, start a new project, set the system aperture to rectangular, insert a parabolic primary mirror, and add a flat secondary mirror at a 45-degree angle to redirect the light path. For a Cassegrain telescope, start a new project, set the aperture to rectangular, insert a hyperbolic primary mirror, and add a hyperbolic secondary mirror aligned to reflect light back through a hole in the primary mirror. 3DOptix allows for powerful simulations without needing high-end local hardware, enabling you to run simulations and optimize the design iteratively. I hope that you can easily design now with 3DOptix: https://www.3doptix.com/