ZEMAX Users' Knowledge Base - Articles - User Articles

BSDF Data Interchange File Format Specification

no@spam.com (Ron Rykowski) — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:00:00 PDT

This article describes the BSDF Data Interchange file format, as developed by Radiant Imaging, Inc. This file format is required for the user-defined scattering function RI_BSDF.DLL, which is used to apply a scattering distribution as provided by tabular BSDF data on a non-sequential surface.

How to Write User-Defined Sources and Scatter Functions in Fortran

no@spam.com (Jeff Casey) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:00:00 PST

User-defined objects, scatter functions, sources etc are dll programs that communicate with ZEMAX. In this article I show how to write such programs in Fortran. Sample code is provided.

How to Talk to ZEMAX from Visual Basic for Applications

no@spam.com (Henning Rehn) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:00:00 PDT

This article describes how to allow programs that support Visual Basic for Applications to communicate with ZEMAX.

ZEMAX Models of the Human Eye

no@spam.com (Rod Watkins) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 00:00:00 PDT

There have been literally dozens of eye models published over more than 150 years, from very simple “reduced” eyes consisting of a single refracting surface to very complex models with more than 4,000 refracting surfaces. This article presents several sequential and non-sequential models of the human eye in ZEMAX format, with glass catalog data.

Quantifying Veiling Glare

no@spam.com (Mike Tocci) — Fri, 25 May 2007 00:00:00 PDT

Veiling glare is a term that is often used in the field of imaging system design. Technically, veiling glare is stray light that reaches the sensor plane of an imaging system, and it can cause a decrease in the imaging system’s performance.

Often, a full non-sequential treatment is needed for accurate results. However, for many optical imaging systems, a first-cut look at forward scattering effects is all that is really required. This article will show how to make just such a preliminary veiling glare measurement using tools that are already built into ZEMAX. This analysis will require just a few minutes to perform, and will give very useful results.

How to Model the Human Eye in ZEMAX

no@spam.com (Mike Tocci) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 00:00:00 PDT

In this article, we will create model of a human eye in ZEMAX using the Liou & Brennan 1997 eye model. After successfully generating this eye model in ZEMAX, we will use it to design a free-form progressive eyeglass lens.

Take Care With 'Exact Equivalent' Glasses

no@spam.com (Eddie Judd) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:00:00 PST

A few years ago the manufacturers of optical glasses started the process of reformulating their glasses to remove arsenic and lead. At first glance, most of these glasses appear to be the exact equivalents of the original glasses. However, examining the indices in the near UV and the NIR shows that the indices can differ in the 3rd decimal place.

Further more, many other properties of the glasses differ significantly: the new formula glasses absorb earlier at each end of the spectrum, and there can be massive differences in the thermal properties between the old and new formulations.

This article discusses these topics, and shows some traps it is easy to fall into with 'Exact Equivalent' glasses.

This article is also available in Japanese.

How to Make Any Object into a Source Object

no@spam.com (Michael Pate) — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 00:00:00 PST

This article describes how to create sources of any geometrical size and shape. The Source Object provides the flexibility to convert any object into a source, including any imported CAD object.

How To Use ZEMAX as an Aid in Measuring the Internal Errors of a Molded Plastic Lens

no@spam.com (Reid Greenberg) — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 00:00:00 PST

This articles describes a joint experimental/computational method for measuring lens decentration and other errors in molded plastic otics

How to Use the Center of Curvature Report to Aid System Alignment

no@spam.com (Bob Parks) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:00:00 PDT

Centered optical systems are relatively easy to design and align, but when decentered and tilted surfaces are used , alignment becomes difficult unless you have a plan. This article describes how to use the Center of Curvature report to give the necessary datums for system alignment.