Software roundup: Free demos & literature

NASA Tech Briefs, Jul 2003

Apollo Photonics

Burlington, ON, Canada

APSS V 2

APSS (Apollo Photonic Solutions Set) combines 2D and 3D design and simulation tools for photonic devices and circuits.

Full integration of material, waveguide, device, and circuit designs are provided using a uniform platform with a clear hierarchy. Component libraries simplify preliminary input and design changes. Simulation data can be exported in CODE V, Excel, and Matlab file formats. A new mask layout allows final designs to be exported based on common industrial standards DXF and GDS-II. A free trial version is available.

View an On-Line Demo at http://info.ims.ca/2230-220

COMSOL, Inc.

Burlington, MA

FEMLAB 2.3A

With a broad range of applicability, FEMLAB modeling and simulation software has 1D, 2D, and 3D capabilities. The Electromagnetics Module now includes a new 2D application mode for mode computations of hybrid-mode waves. With general support for anisotropic media, it can be applied to problems in photonics, optics, and microwave waveguides. Impedance boundary conditions have been added to the 3D quasi-statics application mode, allowing induced currents to be modeled as surface currents along the boundaries, and making it possible to work with higher frequencies.

Request More Information at http://info.ims.ca/2230-222

Lambda Research Corp.

Littleton, MA

TracePro 3.1

TracePro(R), a general ray tracing program for illumination and opto-mechanical analysis, accounts for absorption, specular reflection and refraction, scattering, and diffraction of light propagating through a solid model. New features include faster audit and raytracing times, measurement tools, ACIS(R) R10 kernal, new raytracing algorithms featuring octree voxels and faceted spline surfaces, macro reader, and incident ray table visualization. The IGES and STEP translators remember surface and object names on import and export.

View a Free Brochure On-Line at http://info.ims.ca/2230-223

LINOS Photonics

Milford, MA

WinLens 4.3

WinLens 4.3 is a free, basic program for the design and analysis of optical systems using LINOS and custom components. PreDesigner for the pre-design assessment of the paraxial properties of optical systems and a Lens Library containing designs of LINOS catalog components and systems are also free for use with WinLens. A professional version, WinLens Plus, is available for the design, analysis, and optimization of optical systems. Tolerancer Glass Manager, and Material Editor programs are also available.

Download a Free Copy of WinLens 4.3 at http://info.ims.ca/2230-224

OptiCAD Corp.

Santa Fe, NM OptiCAD

OptiCAD(R) is a flexible, non-sequential illumination, optical analysis, and visualization program that can perform analysis on arbitrarily placed optical components such as lenses, mirrors, light pipes, prisms, imported CAD sur faces and solid objects, and faceted surfaces. It has the capability to do 3D solid modeling and unconstrained ray tracing considering reflection, refraction, surface and bulk scattering, and polarization. Integrated bi-directional CAD import/export functionality is also provided.

Download a Free Demo at http://info.ims.ca/2230-225

Optical Research Associates

Pasadena, CA CODE V 9.3

With numerous enhancements to its modeling capabilities, ORA's CODE V 9.3 is a comprehensive program for optical design, analysis, illumination calculations, and fabrication support. A new Application Programming Interface (API) enables execution of CODE V commands from any application supporting the Windows(R) COM architecture, such as Microsoft(R) Visual Basic(R), Microsoft Office Applications, C , or MATLAB(R). The program also features a library of over 2,400 lens models from patents and other sources.

Request a Free Demo at http://info.ims.ca/2230-226

Optiwave

Ottawa, ON, Canada OptiBPM 6.0

OptiBPM is a CAD software tool that enables the design of complex optical waveguides. Based on the Beam Propagation Method of simulating light passage through any wave-guide medium, designers can observe computer-simulated light field distribution and examine the radiation and guided field simultaneously. New features include the ability to define and use anisotropic materials in layout designs and waveguide simulations. The program can be integrated with Optiwave's OptiSystem software, and with Design Workshop Technologies' dw-2000.

Download a Free Demo or Brochure at http://info.ims.ca/2230-227

Photon Design

Oxford, UK FIMMPROP 4

FIMMPROP is a tool for simulating 3D propagation phenomena in waveguides, permitting users to analyze a variety of 3 dimensional waveguide structures in a rigorous and fully vectorial manner. Almost all 3D structures are modeled using local mode approximations, enabling the fields to be calculated using fast semi analytical methods. Recent changes include updates to the user interface, project management, and graph plotting routines.

View a Free Brochure On-Line at http://info.ims.ca/2230-228

Photon Engineering

Tucson, AZ FRED 2.20.0

Originally introduced in October 2001, FRED is now available in version 2.20.0. This virtual workbench enables users to interact with opto-mechanical systems during desien and analy sis. A 3D Visualization window, allows users to start defining, placing, and manipulating objects as well as observing in real time how they are represented in the system. Users may import CODE V, OSLO, ZEMAX, or IGES files as well as vendor-catalog components.