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- Exploring Sequential Mode in ZEMAX
Exploring Sequential Mode in ZEMAX
- By Andrew Locke
- Published 1 November 2005
- Sequential Ray Tracing , Exploring the ZEMAX Demo
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Ray and OPD fan analysis
One way to assess the geometric aberrations of an optical system in ZEMAX is to use the ray aberration and optical path difference fan analysis capabilities of ZEMAX. These can be accessed in the "Analysis > Fans" menu from the main menu bar.
Open a Ray Fan now using the menu option, "Analysis > Fans > Ray Aberration". This window plots the ray aberrations for tangential and sagittal fans for each field point and wavelength.
Open a Ray Fan now using the menu option, "Analysis > Fans > Ray Aberration". This window plots the ray aberrations for tangential and sagittal fans for each field point and wavelength.
In addition to ray aberrations, ZEMAX can also generate fans which plot the wavefront aberrations. This type of analysis is known as an OPD Fan (Optical Path Difference). Open an OPD Fan now using the menu option, "Analysis > Fans > Optical Path". ZEMAX will plot the wavefront aberrations for each field and wavelength.

TIP: Many of the analysis plots support the active cursor feature, which displays the coordinates of the mouse cursor in the title bar of the window as you move the mouse over the graphic. Try this now with the OPD Fan or Ray Fan windows.

Article Series
This article is part 2 of a 4 part series. Other articles in this series are shown below:
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Exploring Sequential Mode in ZEMAX