Non-imaging Optical Design (using Zemax/OpticStudio)

Explore the non-imaging optical design process using zemax/opticstudio, covering design requirements, basic concepts, simulation, and the iterative steps of initial design, optimization, and tracing, with fabrication and testing not covered.

Explore basic concepts in step two by examining terms such as CBC and CVC, reading about CVC and its entrapments, and referencing the design procedure.

Advance step four of the design procedure by performing a literature survey, simulating with Zemax, and enhancing designs with configurations and materials from preferences, such as CVC circle.

Explore initial design, optimization, and tolerancing steps 5–7 in non-imaging optical design, evaluating design ideas against performance targets and selecting the best design while considering manufacturing errors and yield.

Explore the first step in solar concentrator design: system description to maximize power on a 2x2 m area, with a cbc under 3x4x4 m and two-source radiation.

Explore the Edgerly principle for non imaging optics, showing how guaranteeing ray landings on receiver edges ensures maximum power coupling, regardless of image formation.

Demonstrate how spherical aberration arises in spherical mirrors and how a parabolic mirror yields a focal point. Use tangent and reflection laws to prove the parabola’s focus.

Explore how a compound parabolic concentrator uses parabolic mirrors to focus rays at receivers along the design angle, with demonstrations of CBC performance in IMAX.

This lecture shows configuring a CBC in Zemax in 3D, setting a 20-degree design angle with a source rectangle and a solar cell, and analyzing ray paths to focus points.

Examine skew rays in CPC, comparing planar propagation inside an optical fiber with rays that exit the plane, and note how increasing the design angle improves containment.

Compare circular CBC and rectangular CBC configurations in non-imaging optical design using Zemax/OpticStudio, adjust aperture geometry and two angles, and run optimizations to improve detector fit.

Demonstrate how to optimize non-imaging optical design by steering the CBC volume toward the dominant source and adjusting 10°, 20°, and 27° angles to maximize coupling, yielding 11.8 kW.

The final design review compares CBC rectangular and directional changes to maximize power, achieving 14.1 kilowatts as the peak while leveraging a dominant source and rectangular solar cell.

Use tolerancing in the final design to adjust parameters via absolute value checks and a merit function, guiding toward the target and achieving zero malfunction at a chosen angle.

Perform a tolerancing analysis using TERANCE and Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate design sensitivity, sample outcomes, and manufacturing implications for achieving target power.

Outline the MEMS variable optical meter for multimode fibers, covering 0.7–2.1 μm, with insertion loss greater than 2 dB and activation greater than 20 dB using 200/220 μm fibers.

Explore MEMS at the micro scale, with mechanical parts, actuators, and electrical interfaces that drive motion. Apply MEMS to RF switches, gyroscopes, accelerometers, medical uses, and optical MEMS.

Explore optical mems and their key components like mirrors, detectors, and lasers, and learn their applications in optical communications, switches, spectrometers or interferometers, and imaging.

Explore optical fibres, flexible transparent glass or plastic wires used in communications and sensing. Learn how total internal reflection and the acceptance cone guide light inside the fibre.

Insert a light source into the fiber model with constant intensity and zero radial dependence, aperture 0.41. Place the source inside the core and extend the fiber to observe propagation.

Insert the source, place the detector rectangle at the fiber end, and retrace to achieve near perfect coupling with minimal losses.

Learn the initial non-imaging optical design by inserting a rectangle mirror between two fibers, rotating components, respecting a 220 micrometer height, and selecting material to meet specifications.

Adjust and optimize the optical system to meet design specifications by tuning mirror width, ensuring core coverage, minimizing attenuation, and refining the optical path between fibers for different wavelengths.

Begin with a 2.0 μm worst-case to meet 2.1 μm requirement by sweeping the gap between two fibers, identifying 10.178 units, then insert an optical element to achieve maximum attenuation.

Insert a rectangular absorber between two fibers to maximize attenuation at 2.0 μm, with 50 μm length and 220 μm by 220 μm, aiming for 100% absorption to meet requirements.

Apply boolean CAD operations in Zemax/OpticStudio to combine two objects using A minus B, B minus A, A plus B, and A intersect B, then disable auxiliary objects and drawings.

Create spherical, truncated mirrors in Zemax/OpticStudio by using boolean operations between a rectangular volume and a sphere, or substitute with a standard lens and adjust radius and thickness.

Construct objective measures by assembling a rectangular volume, inserting objects, aligning mirrors (field and object mirrors) and references between objects six and seven, and preparing to insert source for retracing.

Insert a source ellipse, adjust its position to achieve proper intersections and mirror tangency, explore reflections, and configure a nonsequential setup for consistent ray behavior.

Explore the final design steps for a non-imaging optical system, achieving a 22-meter path with a 5-millimeter beam while reducing the device height and input-output sizes.