2013 - Zemax

Release Notes
Our most feature-packed Zemax version ever.
Complete listing of all new features in all editions of Zemax 13
General Features: IE EE SE
A new capability, LightningTrace, has been added. This patent-pending technology is capable of
modeling illumination systems hundreds of times faster than conventional ray-tracing methods
Non-Sequential ray-tracing is generally 20-30% faster than previous systems. The biggest
performance gains are found with more complex systems.
Optimization: IE EE SE
Sequential MF 'favorite operands' option allows user-defined favorite operands to be added at the
top of a sequential merit function
NSC Merit Function Tool builds merit functions for most common requirements automatically
NSC Bitmap Merit Function allows a bitmap file to be used as an optimization target
NSC Auto Roadway Merit Function builds a merit function to optimize roadway lamps to pass the
CIE 140-2000 specifications
NSRW & NSTW operands added to support the Roadway Merit Function tool
NSLT LightningTrace operand allows LightningTrace results to be used in optimization
XENC & XENF support max distance argument
NSDD & NSDE calculate relative flux (normalized to peak) on each pixel
NSDE computes Color Rendering Index (CRI) & Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) on Detector
Color objects
NSTR threads faster on multi-core machines
IMAE supports wave argument
Surfaces and Objects: IE EE SE
Grid GRIN sequential surface allows 3D refractive index data to be read from an ASCII text file
All PartLink, AssemblyLink, Imported, STL and Zemax Part Designer objects are now
grouped under the 'CAD Part' or 'CAD Assembly' naming convention
Creo® Parametric® (formerly Pro/E) parts can be used with Zemax
Creo Parametric Assemblies can be used with Zemax
Optical properties assigned by Zemax to SolidWorks® and Autodesk® Inventor® Parts &
Assemblies can be saved back to the original CAD file using Edit…Save CAD Assembly/Part on
the Non-Sequential Component Editor Toolbar
CAD Part: Autodesk Inventor now supports multi-configuration files
Jones matrix supported in SE
A new 'data' surface has been added. This is a dummy surface that provides up to 240 extra data
values to a subsequently defined user-defined surface (UDS). The data surface must be placed
immediately before the UDS and up to 20 such surfaces defined sequentially may be used by a
single UDS. The purpose of this surface is to allow a large set of user-definable values to be
parametrically controlled and optimized, such as grids of data points. A new FIXED_DATA4 UDS
DLL structure has also been added to support this capability.
Analyses: IE EE SE
RSMx Viewer supports false color plots to make low-intensity regions easier to see.
Detector color measures spectral power distribution
Source spectrum plot displays CRI of rays on detector
RSM Ray generator supports enhanced settings to provide more detailed control of the rays
generated
ZRD spectral power distribution plots as bar chart
Ray database indicates whether ray underwent waveshift
Polar plot scatter viewer added to show 2D scatter functions
An astigmatic Gaussian POP beam definition has been added
Physical Optics now supports sampling up to 16384 in the 64-bit version of Zemax
A Zernike vs. field analysis plot allows a specified range of Zernike coefficients to be plotted as a
function of field.

function of field.
Tools: IE EE SE
The Field Dialog can now compute the required number of field points using the equal-areas rule
Thermal analysis is now supported for Q-type aspheres
The Merit Function Editor now supports the ability to insert .MF files anywhere in the merit
function
ZPL and Extensions: IE EE SE
ZPL POP keyword supports user-definable CFG file
ZPL SOLVEBEFORESTOP keyword enables ZPL solves to be placed prior to the stop surface.
ZPL SURP & SETNSCPROPERTY keywords support built-in BSDF scatter function
ZPL NSLT keyword and DDE dataitem NSCLightningTrace added to provide automatic control of
the nnew LightningTrace feature
MODIFYSETTINGS control have been added for:
Surface sag: sampling and surface settings
Image simulation: apply fixed apertures, use RI, and flip image settings
Detector viewer: output image file setting
Huygens MTF: all settings
Huygens MTF vs. Field: all settings
Huygens through focus MTF: all settings
FFT through focus MTF: all settings
Universal plot 1D: all settings
Universal plot 2D: all settings
Zemax Part Designer: IE EE SE
Parameterize and constrain sketches supported
New sketch arc tool
Explicit definition of points and curves
Overlay bitmap in sketch mode
Additional input validation
Math functions: SINE, COSI, TANG, ASIN, ACOS, ATAN, SQRT
Bugs Fixed:
GENC could report incorrect results on surfaces with steep angles of incidence
Extremely high-angle rays could find the wrong intercept point on Even-aspheric surfaces
The “Use Relative Illumination” switch in Image Simulation remained active in afocal mode even
though RI cannot be computed for an afocal system
For coherent systems, phase reversal was not accounted for in the ZRD when using Pixel
Interpolation.