Winlens lab instructions

Getting started with WinLens 4.4
The purpose of this section is to get to know WinLens. You do not need to
include anything from this section in the lab report.
About LINOS Photonics WinLens 4.4
WinLens 4.4 is an optical design and analysis application that uses ray tracing to
calculate geometrical quantities, aberrations, optical performance etc. Using the
various menu options, spreadsheets and buttons, you can easily set and change
the parameters of the system, or otherwise modify the design.
Finding Help
WinLens has a good help system, with a well-structured table of contents. A
good way to get an overview of the functionality of the application is to browse
through the help files (starting from the table of contents). The help files include
a glossary of terms, where you can find explanations to important concepts of
geometrical optics. The help system is context sensitive, i.e. if you want help on
what you are currently doing, press F1 and the help page concerning your
current action (or more precisely, the currently active window) will be
displayed.
Getting started
Starting WinLens
You find WinLens on the Start menu under Start → All Programs → LINOS
Photonics → WinLens 4.4.
A note about decimal separator
Depending on the language settings for Windows on the computer you are using,
the decimal separator may be either a point or a comma. For instance, if you are
running WinLens on a Swedish version of Windows, you should use the comma
as separator. If you use the point it will be ignored, i.e. “3.5” is interpreted as
“35”.
The windows
When you start WinLens 4.4, two windows
• the System Data Editor (Fig. 1), and
• the System Parameter Editor (Fig. 2)
are displayed within the main window (“LINOS Photonics WinLens 4.4”).
These two windows are always displayed, you can not close them. The System
Data Editor is where you set up the lens system by adding parts to the
Component column. In the section “A user-defined lens” we will try this.