Koehler Illumination
When designing any optical system, an optical engineer needs to consider how illumination will be used: specifically, how the illumination could affect the way the image is created. If not carefully designed, some illumination systems may create a kind of vignetting where the illumination will have a higher intensity at the center while decreasing to […]
Understanding K Correlation in Optical Design: Managing Stray Light and Light Scattering
In this article, we will explore a critical aspect of optical design: the K correlation, and how it plays a pivotal role in managing issues such as stray light and light scattering in optical systems, and we will discuss the Bidirectional Scattering Distribution Function (BSDF) in greater detail. The Significance of K Correlation In optical […]
Infrared and thermal imaging design
In the coming weeks, we will be posting about the unique design considerations and material requirements for infrared optical systems. In this post, we will focus on the definitions optical engineers use. Infrared radiation includes electromagnetic waves with 0.75-1000 µm wavelength band. This spectral region is divided into five intervals: Thermal imaging IR-radiation has a […]
RXI Collimators explained
Optical RXI collimators, also called non-imaging concentrators are optical components that can collect and project light from a source. Common examples include solar collectors that concentrate the sun’s light and project it to heat a surface or direct it to solar panels. Another application is to control the hemispheric radiation of an LED. Non-imaging concentrators […]
The Ultimate Benefits of Multiphysics Design You Need to Know
Multiphysics simulations are a fundamental part of our optical design process in Zemax. We use these simulations to evaluate optical performance, whether in terms of aberrations for imaging systems or power efficiency for non-imaging systems. The Importance of Multiphysics Simulations in Optical Design There are situations however in which a purely optical simulation is not […]
Designing a custom spectrometer
We will delve in more detail here on the types of questions we ask our customers when starting a custom spectrometer design program and the various stages of development. Some recent spectrophotometer development tasks included: These programs may include design optimization, improvement of a proven concept prototype, or development of a completely new concept. We […]