Raytracing and optical design - Introduction

The main reference for this video is the article: doi.org/10.1117/1.NPh.8.1.010801
This is a very short overview of the raytracing python module that can be used for validating and optimizing optical designs. It was originally presented at Photonics North 2021.
More info at github.com/DCC-Lab/RayTracing
Intro: 0:00
Quick theory: 1:12
Simple example : 5:19
Aperture stop and Field stop example: 6:34
Profiles and efficiency example: 8:20
Commercial lenses example: 9:12
Conclusion: 10:03
Where to go next?: 10:44

[@cheakternonman5706]

Kudos to you! Very useful materials.

[@user-bf4kb5hm4n]

Thanks for your share. It is a great lecture.

[@swiftyan9274]

great for a beginner, i want to learn this.

[@vishalvashistha]

Well done man, way better than Zemax. Better than Zemax which is a really expensive tool and takes ages to learn.

[@alexred9963]

well if zemax expencive why dont find different cheaper optical design software? or free. zemax not a holy grail and never been. ages education need only if use all functions. if add to this program same amount functions. education curve will be the same

[@alihassan9690]

great work I hope you will ad methods for optimizations of aberrations soon

[@dccote]

Unfortunately, we cannot do much about aberrations: since we are using the paraxial approximation, we cannot compute them (aside from field curvature I think). We would need to change quite a few things undert the hood. So the answer: don't hold your breath.

[@ShopperPlug]

Are there any complete courses on this for optics?

[@christoforosiakovou]

Great work prof. Daniel! See, if you want to model say a laser path but with an initial angle about the horizontal, how can this be achieved?
Thank you and looking forward to the further development of this awesome module!

[@dccote]

Sorry for the late reply, but off-axis gaussian beams cannot be done at this point. I am not sure the formalism with complex radii of curvatures even exists for that. But you can simply use regular rays and you will be fine if you try to model where the beam goes.

[@christoforosiakovou]

@@dccote Thank you for the respond!

[@The.captive.eagle.14]

I have a set of lenses and I was looking for how to arrange them to become a long -term endoscope as possible ...
Will you help me, Professor 🥴

[@nikhilsen9007]

Thanks a lot for this Python library.
What will be the limit of this tool? At what limit, it can't do things that Zemax can.
In short, when should I consider using Zemax, and when is this python library good enough?

[@prateenkumar9100]

Can it be used for gradient index lens ray tracing?

[@dccote]

It is not difficult to add (we just did not need it at this point). I will add an issue to include it in the next version. In a prior life, this software existed as ABCD.app on the mac and we could do grin lenses.

[@prateenkumar9100]

@@dccote It would be great to be able to analyze GRIN lenses using this code. Looking forward. Thanks.

[@dccote]

@@prateenkumar9100 SOrry I took so long but because the way the code is organized it is surprisingly difficult to do....! I failed at my first attempt, I will try again later with a new strategy.

[@dccote]

The somplest solution at this point is to create a MatrixGroup with small sections of GRIN, adding up to the GRIN you want.

[@The.captive.eagle.14]

I tried to understand, but to no avail 😂😂 It seems that I am below the novice level 🥴