We will model the thermal effect using the Cooke Triplet sample file. Open {zemaxroot}/Samples/Sequential/Objectives/Cooke 40 degree field.zmx

This sample ifle has a marginal ray angle solve on surface #6 radius parameter, which automatically changes the curvature to satisfy the specified marginal ray angle; it should be removed before performing thermal analysis.

Before doing any thermal modeling, make sure that the "Adjust Index Data To Environment" option under System > General > Environment is checked. If not, the index of glasses will not change as function of temperature, even if the coefficients for the thermal equation are provided in the glass catalog.



Instead of manually inserting all necessary operands in the MCE we will use a tool built-in to ZEMAX that inserts all parameters in the MCE.

Open the MCE and click Tools > Make Thermal.



Beside the nominal temperature (configuration 1) we will add configurations at -20 and +40 degrees C for total of 3 configurations. Enter the following values in the tool window.



Click OK and the MCE should look like this.



Toggle between the configurations (CTRL-A) and observe the analysis windows display the effect of temperature change.