Ray Optics Module

User’s Guide
Ray Optics Module User’s Guide
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C o n t e n t s

Chapter 1: Introduction

About the Ray Optics Module 8

The Ray Optics Module Physics Interface Guide . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Common Physics Interface and Feature Settings and Nodes. . . . . . . 9
Where Do I Access the Documentation and Application Libraries? . . . . 9

Overview of the User’s Guide 13

Chapter 2: Ray Optics Modeling

Geometrical Optics 16
Introduction to Geometrical Optics Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Domain Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Geometry and Mesh Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Quantities Computed by the Geometrical Optics Interface . . . . . . . 20
Special Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Using Ray Release Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Releasing Polarized Rays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Using Ray Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Creating a Mesh for Geometrical Optics Modeling . . . . . . . . . . 37
Using the Ray Tracing Study Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Using the Bidirectionally Coupled Ray Tracing Study . . . . . . . . . 40
Postprocessing Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Computing Monochromatic Aberrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Component Couplings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
The Ray Optics Materials Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Part Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

CONTENTS |3
 Chapter 3: Ray Optics

The Geometrical Optics Interface 56

Domain, Boundary, and Global Nodes for the Geometrical Optics
Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Medium Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Wall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Axial Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Accumulator (Boundary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Material Discontinuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Thin Dielectric Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Ray Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Photometric Data Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Deposited Ray Power (Domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Deposited Ray Power (Boundary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Accumulator (Domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Nonlocal Accumulator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Inlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Inlet on Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Illuminated Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Grating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Diffraction Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Linear Polarizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Ideal Depolarizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Linear Wave Retarder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Circular Wave Retarder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Mueller Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Auxiliary Dependent Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Release from Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Release from Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Release from Point on Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Release from Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Release from Grid on Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Release from Data File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Ray Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Solar Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

4 | CONTENTS
 Ray Termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Ray Detector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Theory for the Geometrical Optics Interface 111

Introduction to Geometrical Optics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Initial Conditions — Direction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Material Discontinuity Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Intensity, Wavefront Curvature, and Polarization . . . . . . . . . . 115
Wavefront Curvature Calculation in Graded Media . . . . . . . . . 124
Refraction in Strongly Absorbing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Attenuation Within Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Ray Termination Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Illuminated Surface Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Theory of Mueller Matrices and Optical Components . . . . . . . . 136
Thin Dielectric Film Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Grating Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Interference Pattern Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Accumulator Theory: Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Accumulator Theory: Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
References for the Geometrical Optics Interface . . . . . . . . . . 150

The Ray Heating Interface 151

Ray Heat Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Theory for the Ray Heating Interface 154

Unidirectional and Bidirectional Couplings . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Coupled Heat Transfer and Ray Tracing Equations . . . . . . . . . 154
Heat Source Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Chapter 4: Glossary

Glossary of Terms 160

Index 163

CONTENTS |5
6 | CONTENTS
 1

Introduction

This guide describes the Ray Optics Module, an optional add-on package for
COMSOL Multiphysics®.

This chapter introduces you to the capabilities of this module. A summary of the
physics interfaces and where you can find documentation and model examples is
also included. The last section is a brief overview with links to each chapter in this
guide.

In this chapter:

• About the Ray Optics Module

• Overview of the User’s Guide

7
 About the Ray Optics Module
These topics are included in this section:

• The Ray Optics Module Physics Interface Guide

• Common Physics Interface and Feature Settings and Nodes
• Where Do I Access the Documentation and Application Libraries?

The Ray Optics Module Physics Interface Guide

The Ray Optics Module extends the functionality of the physics interfaces of the base
package for COMSOL Multiphysics. The details of the physics interfaces and study
types for the Ray Optics Module are listed in the table. The functionality of the
COMSOL Multiphysics base package is given in the COMSOL Multiphysics
Reference Manual.

In the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual:

• Studies and Solvers

• The Physics Interfaces
• For a list of all the core physics interfaces included with a COMSOL
Multiphysics license, see Physics Interface Guide.

PHYSICS INTERFACE ICON TAG SPACE AVAILABLE PRESET STUDY

DIMENSION TYPE

Optics

Ray Optics

Geometrical Optics gop 3D, 2D, 2D ray tracing; bidirectionally

axisymmetric coupled ray tracing; time
dependent
Ray Heating — 3D, 2D, 2D ray tracing; bidirectionally
axisymmetric coupled ray tracing; time
dependent

8 | CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Common Physics Interface and Feature Settings and Nodes
There are several common settings and sections available for the physics interfaces and
feature nodes. Some of these sections also have similar settings or are implemented in
the same way no matter the physics interface or feature being used. There are also some
physics feature nodes that display in COMSOL Multiphysics.

In each module’s documentation, only unique or extra information is included;

standard information and procedures are centralized in the COMSOL Multiphysics
Reference Manual.

In the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual see Table 2-3 for

links to common sections and Table 2-4 to common feature nodes.
You can also search for information: press F1 to open the Help
window or Ctrl+F1 to open the Documentation window.

Where Do I Access the Documentation and Application Libraries?

A number of internet resources have more information about COMSOL, including
licensing and technical information. The electronic documentation, topic-based (or
context-based) help, and the application libraries are all accessed through the
COMSOL Desktop.

If you are reading the documentation as a PDF file on your computer,

the blue links do not work to open an application or content
referenced in a different guide. However, if you are using the Help
system in COMSOL Multiphysics, these links work to open other
modules (as long as you have a license), application examples, and
documentation sets.

THE DOCUMENTATION AND ONLINE HELP

The COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual describes the core physics interfaces
and functionality included with the COMSOL Multiphysics license. This book also has
instructions about how to use COMSOL Multiphysics and how to access the
electronic Documentation and Help content.

ABOUT THE RAY OPTICS MODULE | 9

 Opening Topic-Based Help
The Help window is useful as it is connected to many of the features on the GUI. To
learn more about a node in the Model Builder, or a window on the Desktop, click to
highlight a node or window, then press F1 to open the Help window, which then
displays information about that feature (or click a node in the Model Builder followed
by the Help button ( ). This is called topic-based (or context) help.

To open the Help window:

• In the Model Builder, Application Builder, or Physics Builder click a node or

window and then press F1.
• On any toolbar (for example, Home, Definitions, or Geometry), hover the
mouse over a button (for example, Add Physics or Build All) and then
press F1.
• From the File menu, click Help ( ).
• In the upper-right corner of the COMSOL Desktop, click the Help ( )
button.

To open the Help window:

• In the Model Builder or Physics Builder click a node or window and then
press F1.
• On the main toolbar, click the Help ( ) button.
• From the main menu, select Help>Help.

Opening the Documentation Window

To open the Documentation window:

• Press Ctrl+F1.
• From the File menu select Help>Documentation ( ).

10 | CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
 To open the Documentation window:

• Press Ctrl+F1.
• On the main toolbar, click the Documentation ( ) button.
• From the main menu, select Help>Documentation.

THE APPLICATION LIBRARIES WINDOW

Each application includes documentation with the theoretical background and
step-by-step instructions to create a model application. The applications are available
in COMSOL as MPH-files that you can open for further investigation. You can use the
step-by-step instructions and the actual applications as a template for your own
modeling and applications. In most models, SI units are used to describe the relevant
properties, parameters, and dimensions in most examples, but other unit systems are
available.

Once the Application Libraries window is opened, you can search by name or browse
under a module folder name. Click to view a summary of the application and its
properties, including options to open it or a PDF document.

The Application Libraries Window in the COMSOL Multiphysics

Reference Manual.

Opening the Application Libraries Window

To open the Application Libraries window ( ):

• From the Home toolbar, Windows menu, click ( ) Applications

Libraries.
• From the File menu select Application Libraries.

To include the latest versions of model examples, from the File>Help

menu, select ( ) Update COMSOL Application Library.

Select Application Libraries from the main File> or Windows> menus.

To include the latest versions of model examples, from the Help menu
select ( ) Update COMSOL Application Library.

ABOUT THE RAY OPTICS MODULE | 11

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COMSOL website www.comsol.com

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Discussion Forum www.comsol.com/community
Events www.comsol.com/events
COMSOL Video Gallery www.comsol.com/video
Support Knowledge Base www.comsol.com/support/knowledgebase

12 | CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Overview of the User’s Guide
The Ray Optics Module User’s Guide gets you started with modeling using
COMSOL Multiphysics. The information in this guide is specific to this module.
Instructions how to use COMSOL in general are included with the COMSOL
Multiphysics Reference Manual.

As detailed in the section Where Do I Access the Documentation and

Application Libraries? this information can also be searched from the
COMSOL Multiphysics software Help menu.

TA BL E O F C O N T E N T S A N D I N D EX
To help you navigate through this guide, see the Contents and Index.

RAY OPTICS MODELING

The Ray Optics Modeling chapter provides an overview of ray tracing simulation. It
describes the major functionality groups that are included in The Geometrical Optics
Interface, including topics such as Using Ray Release Features and Boundary
Conditions. The dedicated study steps and postprocessing tools are also discussed.

RAY OPTICS
The Ray Optics chapter describes The Geometrical Optics Interface and includes the
Theory for the Geometrical Optics Interface. It also describes The Ray Heating
Interface, a dedicated Multiphysics interface for computing heat sources generated by
attenuation of rays in absorbing media, and includes the Theory for the Ray Heating
Interface.

O V E R V I E W O F T H E U S E R ’S G U I D E | 13
14 | CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
 2

Ray Optics Modeling

The Ray Optics Module provides tools for computing ray trajectories, intensity,
and polarization. This chapter gives an overview of the Geometrical Optics
interface and the modeling tools it includes.

In this chapter:

• Geometrical Optics

15
 Geometrical Optics
In this section:

• Introduction to Geometrical Optics Modeling

• Domain Selection
• Geometry and Mesh Settings
• Quantities Computed by the Geometrical Optics Interface
• Special Variables
• Using Ray Release Features
• Releasing Polarized Rays
• Boundary Conditions
• Using Ray Detectors
• Creating a Mesh for Geometrical Optics Modeling
• Using the Ray Tracing Study Step
• Using the Bidirectionally Coupled Ray Tracing Study
• Postprocessing Tools
• Computing Monochromatic Aberrations
• Component Couplings
• The Ray Optics Materials Database
• Part Libraries

Introduction to Geometrical Optics Modeling

Geometrical optics provides a complement to other electromagnetics modeling
techniques such as the finite element method. It can be used to efficiently model
electromagnetic wave propagation when the wavelength is much smaller than the
smallest geometric entity in the model. While propagating, waves are assumed to be
locally plane; that is, the surfaces of constant electric field are either planar, or if they
are curved, their radii of curvature are much larger than the wavelength. The effects of
diffraction at edges and corners in the geometry are also neglected. When these
assumptions are valid, geometrical optics provides an efficient means of modeling wave
propagation through optically large systems.

16 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

The Geometrical Optics Interface is used to compute ray trajectories. For each ray, a
set of two first-order differential equations are solved for each component of the
position and wave vector of the ray, for a total of six degrees of freedom per ray in 3D
or four degrees of freedom per ray in 2D. A Time Dependent study or the Ray Tracing
study, which is a variant of the Time Dependent study, is used to solve these equations.

In order to compute ray trajectories with the Geometrical Optics interface, at least the
following must be present:

• At least one release feature, such as the Release, Inlet, or Release from Grid node.
Release features are used to specify the initial position and direction of rays. If other
ray properties such as intensity are computed, they are initialized by release features
as well. The Geometrical Optics interface also includes dedicated release features to
release solar radiation and to release reflected or refracted rays from an illuminated
boundary.
• Boundary conditions, such as the Material Discontinuity and Wall nodes, that
determine how rays interact with their surroundings. By default, the Material
Discontinuity boundary condition is applied to all boundaries to model reflection
and refraction between adjacent domains. The Wall feature can be used to reflect or
absorb rays at selected boundaries. Specialized boundary conditions are also
available to model optical devices such as polarizers and wave retarders.
• The Ray Properties node, which is present by default and cannot be removed. The
Ray Properties node can be used to specify the frequency or free-space wavelength
of the rays. If the Allow frequency distributions at release features check box is
selected in the Settings window for the physics interface, the frequency is instead
specified in the settings for the ray release features and can be assigned a different
value for each ray, but the Ray Properties node still cannot be removed.
• The Medium Properties node, which is used to specify the refractive indices of the
media through which rays propagate. The refractive index may either be a real or
complex quantity, depending on whether the rays propagate through an absorbing
medium.

In addition to the required functionality listed above, the Geometrical Optics interface
also includes tools for coupling the results to other physics interfaces. Dedicated nodes
called Accumulator nodes can be used to transfer information from rays to the domains
they pass through or the boundaries they hit. The variable computed by an Accumulator
node can represent any physical quantity and can be expressed in terms of variables that
exist on rays, domains, and boundaries.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 17
 In addition, The Ray Heating Interface includes a dedicated multiphysics node that
computes the heat source resulting from the attenuation of rays in absorbing media.
This allows for easy coupling between the Geometrical Optics interface and a heat
transfer interface, such as the Heat Transfer in Solids interface. Because the
Geometrical Optics interface is compatible with moving meshes, it is possible to
expand ray heating models to account for thermal expansion as well.

Domain Selection
It is possible for rays to pass through domains in the geometry and to propagate in the
void region outside these domains. In addition, boundary conditions can be specified
at any boundary, even at boundaries that are not adjacent to any domain in the
geometry.

In the physics interface node’s Ray Release and Propagation section, the Refractive index
of exterior domains is specified. This refractive index is used in any domains outside of
the selection for the Geometrical Optics interface, as well as the void domain outside
the geometry. It is a constant, scalar-valued quantity; thus, the refractive index outside
the domain selection cannot depend on field variables such as temperature and cannot
be a graded-index medium.

Typically, the most efficient way to specify the domain selection is to select all dielectric
media except the medium that occupies the greatest volume. For typical lens systems,
this means that all lenses should be selected and that the air or vacuum surrounding
the lenses can either be deselected or left as part of the exterior void domain.

A major advantage to excluding some domains from the selection for the physics
interface is that these domains do not need to be meshed; see Creating a Mesh for
Geometrical Optics Modeling for more details.

Note that some physics features require a domain mesh and will not function on
domains outside the physics interface selection. This includes all types of Accumulator
(Domain) feature, including the dedicated Ray Heat Source multiphysics feature.

Geometry and Mesh Settings

When rays reach the boundaries of geometric entities in a model, they do not interact
with an exact parameterized representation of the geometry. Rather, they propagate
through the mesh elements that discretize the modeling domain and interact with the
boundary elements that cover the surfaces of the geometric entities.

18 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

REPRESENTATION OF CURVED SURFACES
When the surfaces of the geometry are flat, the shape of the surface mesh is
indistinguishable from the shape of the geometric entities themselves. Therefore, the
fact that rays interact with the mesh instead of the geometry does not introduce any
discretization error, and it is possible to accurately compute ray trajectories even when
the mesh is extremely coarse.

Curved surfaces in the geometry, however, usually incur a significant amount of

discretization error when predicting how rays will interact with them. The time and
location at which the ray interacts with the boundary mesh element might be slightly
different from the time at which it would have interacted with an exact representation
of the surface. In addition, the tangential and normal directions on the boundary mesh
element may differ from the tangential and normal directions on the surface, affecting
the accuracy of boundary conditions that involve the tangential and normal directions,
such as the Specular reflection condition.

The order of the curved mesh elements used to determine the geometry shape is
controlled by the Geometry shape order list in the Model Settings section of the Settings
window for the main Component node. If Automatic, the default, is selected, the curved
mesh elements are usually represented by quadratic curves; in some cases, linear
functions are used to prevent inverted mesh elements from being created.

The effect of the geometry shape order is most notable on a coarse mesh, as shown in
Figure 2-1. The mesh elements are shown as pale gray lines in the background and the
ray trajectories are represented as thick red arrows. The rays initially propagate
downward and are specularly reflected by a parabolic mirror. If Linear is selected from
the Geometry shape order list, all rays that hit the same boundary element are specularly
reflected in the same direction, as shown on the left. Even though the bottom surface
is parabolic, the rays don’t all intersect at a single focus due to the discretization error.
If Quadratic or Automatic is selected, rays that hit the same boundary element can still
be reflected in different directions because the tangential and normal directions can
vary along the surface of the curved element. As a result, the rays reflected by the
parabolic mirror all intersect at a well-defined focal point as expected.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 19
 Figure 2-1: Comparison of rays being specularly reflected at a curved boundary
represented using linear elements (left) and quadratic elements (right).

R AY TR A C I N G I N A N I M P O R T E D M E S H
It is also possible to compute ray trajectories in an imported mesh. The mesh can be
imported from a COMSOL Multiphysics file (.mphbin for a binary file format
or .mphtxt for a text file format) or from a NASTRAN file (.nas, .bdf, .nastran,
or .dat).

If the mesh is imported from a COMSOL Multiphysics file, the imported mesh always
uses linear geometry shape order for the purpose of modeling ray-boundary
interactions, even if the model used to generate the mesh had a higher geometry shape
order.

If the mesh is imported from a NASTRAN file, the ray-boundary interactions may be
modeled using either linear or higher geometry shape order. If Export as linear elements
is selected when generating the NASTRAN file, or if Import as linear elements is
selected when importing the file, then linear geometry shape order will be used.

Quantities Computed by the Geometrical Optics Interface

By default, the Geometrical Optics interface declares dependent variables for the
components of the ray position and wave vector. It is possible to define first-order
differential equations for other dependent variables to be integrated over time or along
the trajectory of each ray. An additional variable used to solve a user-defined first-order
equation is called an Auxiliary Dependent Variable. It is possible to add an arbitrary

20 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

number of auxiliary dependent variables to the Geometrical Optics interface, resulting
in an arbitrary number of first-order equations being solved.

In addition, several quantities that are often of interest in geometrical optics

applications, such as intensity and phase, are computed using built-in auxiliary
dependent variables that can be activated by selecting certain options in the physics
interface node’s Settings window.

The following sections describe the quantities that can be computed by changing
settings in the Geometrical Optics interface.

INTENSITY CALCULATION
The calculation of ray intensity is controlled by the Intensity Computation setting in the
Intensity Computation section of the physics interface node’s Settings window. The
intensity is computed when the Intensity Computation is set to Compute intensity,
Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity
and power in graded media.

When the ray intensity is computed, settings for specifying the initial ray intensity,
wavefront shape, and polarization become available in all release features. It is possible
to release polarized, unpolarized, and partially polarized rays. It is also possible to
define the wavefront shape so that the ray intensity varies like that of a plane wave,
spherical wave, or a wavefront with user-defined principal radii of curvature. These
radii of curvature dictate whether the electromagnetic waves are converging or
diverging, and the distance to the nearest focus (within the limits of the geometrical
optics approximation).

The intensity of a ray is computed using four Stokes parameters that provide the
flexibility to specify arbitrary states of polarization when releasing rays. The four Stokes
parameters describe the ray intensity that would be observed by sending rays through
certain combinations of polarizers and wave retarders. A comprehensive definition of
the Stokes parameters is available in The Stokes Parameters in Theory for the
Geometrical Optics Interface.

While the Stokes parameters determine the state of polarization of the rays, the
magnitude of the intensity also depends on the degree to which a wavefront is
converging or diverging. This information is stored by computing the principal radii
of curvature of the wavefront. For more information on wavefront radii of curvature,
see Principal Radii of Curvature in Theory for the Geometrical Optics Interface.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 21
 Altogether, to compute the intensity of a wavefront in 3D using the method of
principal curvatures, a total of 11 additional degrees of freedom are defined per ray,
including the following:

• Four Stokes parameters,

• Two principal radii of curvature,
• Two initial principal radii of curvature, and
• Three components of a unit vector that is used to define a local coordinate system
with respect to which the Stokes parameters are defined.

Information about the local coordinate system is needed because such a coordinate
system must often undergo transformations when rays interact with boundaries. The
coefficients of reflection and transmission depend on the orientation of the electric
field of the incident ray with respect to the plane of incidence. In addition, when rays
interact with curved boundaries, the reinitialized radii of curvature of the reflected and
refracted rays depend on the curvature and orientation of the boundaries.

In 2D, only the four Stokes parameters, one principal radius of curvature, and one
initial principal radius of curvature are required, for a total of 6 additional degrees of
freedom per ray. The out-of-plane radius is assumed to be arbitrarily large, so all of the
rays correspond to planar or cylindrical wavefronts.

In 2D axisymmetric models, the four Stokes parameters, two principal radii of

curvature, and two initial principal radii of curvature are allocated for each ray, for a
total of 8 additional degrees of freedom per ray. The in-plane and out-of-plane radii of
curvature are both permitted to change, allowing rays to interact with boundaries as if
they were surfaces of revolution having both in-plane and out-of-plane curvature.

If Compute intensity in graded media is selected, the information about ray intensity and
polarization is computed using a total of 8 degrees of freedom in 3D or 5 degrees of
freedom in 2D. However, the method of principal curvatures is recommended in most
cases, despite requiring more degrees of freedom, because the solution is more
accurate when the time step taken by the solver is large. The main advantage of the
option Compute intensity in graded media is that it can be used to compute the ray
intensity in graded media, in which the refractive index changes continuously, whereas
the option Compute intensity is only valid in homogeneous media, where the refractive
index is constant within each domain and only changes during ray-boundary
interactions.

22 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

OPTICAL PATH LENGTH CALCULATION
It is possible to define an auxiliary dependent variable for the optical path length by
selecting the Compute optical path length check box in the Additional Variables section
of the physics interface node’s Settings window. Initially the optical path length is set
to 0 for all released rays. It is possible to reset the optical path length to 0 when the
rays interact with boundaries.

PHASE CALCULATION
The phase of a ray is necessary for some applications that require information about
the instantaneous electric fields of multiple rays, such as interferometers. To define an
auxiliary dependent variable for phase, select the Compute phase check box in the
Intensity Computation section of the physics interface node’s Settings window. This
check box is only available if the ray intensity is computed.

Because enabling the phase allows the instantaneous electric field of a ray to be plotted,
phase calculation can be used to visualize the state of polarization of a system of rays.

Figure 2-2: Polarization of the reflected and refracted rays when an unpolarized ray
crosses a material discontinuity at the Brewster angle, visualized using a Deformation
node.

As shown in Figure 2-2, the polarization of a ray can be visualized when the free-space
wavelength is sufficiently large by applying a Deformation node to a Ray Trajectories
plot. A deformation proportional to the electric field can then be applied to the rays.
The color expression corresponds to the degree of polarization of each ray; because the

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 23
 angle of incidence is equal to the Brewster angle, the reflected ray is completely
polarized whereas the refracted ray is not.

ALLOW FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS AT RELEASE FEATURES

By default, the ray frequency or free-space wavelength is defined in the Ray Properties
Settings window and has the same value for all rays. For some applications, however,
it may be useful to model ray propagation over a wide range of frequency values. This
can be accomplished by defining a parameter for the ray frequency and adding a
Parametric Sweep to the study, but it is often more efficient to model the propagation
of rays with a wide range of frequency values simultaneously. This can be accomplished
by selecting the Allow frequency distributions at release features check box in the Ray
Release and Propagation section of the physics interface node’s Settings window.

Selecting the Allow frequency distributions at release features check box causes an
auxiliary dependent variable to be defined for the ray frequency, enabling a unique
frequency value to be assigned to each ray. In the Settings windows for release features
it is possible to release either a single ray of a specified frequency or a distribution of
frequency values.

Czerny-Turner Monochromator: Application Library path

Ray_Optics_Module/Polychromatic_Light/czerny_turner_monochromator

COMPUTING DEPOSITED RAY POWER

The total power transmitted by a ray depends on the ray intensity and the solid angle
subtended by the wavefront. Although the former is computed when the Intensity
computation is set to Compute intensity or Compute intensity in graded media in the
Intensity Computation section of the physics interface node’s Settings window, the latter
is not.

It is possible to model heat generation on domains or boundaries due to the

attenuation or absorption of rays by setting Intensity computation to Compute intensity
and power or Compute intensity and power in graded media. In addition to the auxiliary
dependent variables for the Stokes parameters, principal radii of curvature, and
principal curvature direction, this option defines a variable for the total power
transmitted by a ray. The changes in total ray power due to propagation in absorbing
media and interaction with material discontinuities are proportional to the
corresponding changes in the ray intensity. However, unlike the ray intensity, the total
ray power is unaffected by changes in the principal radii of curvature.

24 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

When the variable for total ray power is computed, it is possible to compute the
boundary heat source that is created when rays are absorbed at surfaces using the
Deposited Ray Power (Boundary) subnode. In addition, if rays propagate through
absorbing media, it is possible to model the changes in ray intensity and power and to
compute the heat source resulting from the attenuation of rays. This heat source is
automatically used to compute the temperature when The Ray Heating Interface is
used. Alternatively, the coupling can be set up manually using the Ray Heat Source
multiphysics node.

CORRECTIONS FOR STRONGLY ABSORBING MEDIA

The classical implementation of Snell’s law and the Fresnel equations is valid for ray
propagation between media that are non-absorbing or weakly absorbing, meaning that
the imaginary part of the refractive index is much smaller in magnitude than the real
part of the refractive index. In such cases it can be assumed that the surface in which
ray amplitude is constant and the surface in which ray phase is constant are both
normal to the direction of ray propagation.

However, in strongly absorbing media, the surfaces of constant amplitude and surfaces
of constant phase are not always parallel to each other. As a result, corrections to Snell’s
law and the Fresnel equations are required. These corrections can be enabled by
selecting the Use corrections for strongly absorbing media check box in the Intensity
Computation section of the physics interface node’s Settings window. This check box is
only available if the ray intensity is computed. To store information about the
orientation of the surfaces of constant phase, selecting this check box causes three
auxiliary dependent variables to be declared in 3D models or two auxiliary dependent
variables in 2D models.

DEPENDEN T VA RIABLES CREATED BY PHYSICS FEATURES

The following dependent variables are created by adding specific physics features to the
Geometrical Optics interface and changing their settings.

Initial Perturbation for Illuminated Surfaces

The Illuminated Surface feature includes an option to perturb the initial ray direction
in order to model the effects of surface roughness. When the Include surface roughness
check box is selected in the settings window for at least one Illuminated surface feature,
an auxiliary dependent variable is declared. This auxiliary dependent variable is used to
initialize the perturbed ray direction vectors.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 25
 Total Power Transmitted and Reflected at Gratings
The Grating feature is used to model the transmission and reflection of rays at
diffraction gratings. It includes a Diffraction Order subnode that can be used to release
secondary rays of nonzero diffraction order. When the Intensity computation is set to
Compute intensity and power or Compute intensity and power in graded media in the
Intensity Computation section of the physics interface settings window, the Store total
transmitted power and Store total reflected power check boxes are shown in the Grating
settings window. Selecting either of these check boxes causes an auxiliary dependent
variable to be declared, storing the total power of the transmitted and reflected rays of
all diffraction orders.

Diffraction Grating: Application Library path Ray_Optics_Module/

Tutorials/diffraction_grating

O RDER O F IN ITIAL IZATION O F A UX IL IA R Y D EPEND EN T VA RIA BL ES

When rays are released, the variables defined for each ray are initialized in a specific
order. The initial values of ray variables can only depend on the values of variables that
have already been defined. The order of dependent variable initialization is governed
by the following rules:

• The initial ray position is always determined first.

• By default, user-defined auxiliary dependent variables (that is, those that are defined
by adding an Auxiliary Dependent Variable node to the physics interface) are
initialized after all other variables. They can instead be initialized immediately after

26 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

 the ray position vector components by selecting the Initialize before wave vector
check box shown in all release features.

Figure 2-3: Settings for initializing auxiliary dependent variables before or after other
degrees of freedom.

• If more than one user-defined auxiliary dependent variable is present, these variables
are initialized in the order in which the corresponding Auxiliary Dependent Variable
nodes appear in the Model Builder.
• The remaining degrees of freedom are defined in the following order (each listed
group is initialized simultaneously, and the variables within a group cannot reliably
be initialized in terms of each other):
- Help variable for the perturbation of initial ray direction at illuminated surfaces,
- Ray frequency,
- The wave vector components, optical path length, and total power transmitted
and reflected by gratings,
- The components of the unit vector that indicates the direction corresponding to
one of the principal radii of curvature,
- The principal radii of curvature, initial principal radii of curvature, the initial
Stokes parameters, and help variables for computing the curvature tensor and
intensity, and
- The total power transmitted by the ray.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 27
 For example, the initial ray direction vector may depend on the ray frequency, but the
initial principal radii of curvature may not depend on the total power transmitted by
the ray.

Special Variables
The Geometrical Optics interface defines a number of special variables, some of which
can only be used during results processing. These variables can be found in the Ray
statistics section in the Add/Replace Expression menus. All of the variables described in
this section are preceded by the physics interface Name; see The Geometrical Optics
Interface for more information.

The following variables are defined:

• Ray index, pidx. Each ray is assigned a unique index starting from 1 up to the total
number of rays. This expression can be passed into a function, which can create
random values that are unique for each ray. This is used, for example, to ensure that
each ray’s probability of being specularly reflected at a mixed diffuse-specular surface
is determined independently of other rays. Suppose a random function has already
been defined with name rn1, which takes 2 input arguments. Then a random
boundary interaction can be constructed with the expression rn1(pidx,t).
• Ray release feature, prf. If there are multiple release features in a model, it is useful
to be able to visualize which rays correspond to each release feature. The Ray release
feature variable takes a numeric value, starting at 1, which is unique to each release
feature. This variable can also be used to filter ray trajectories in postprocessing so
that only the rays released by a specific feature are shown.
• Ray release time, prt. The Ray release time is the time at which the primary rays are
released, which is usually zero for all rays. To allow other release times to be
specified, select the Allow multiple release times check box in the physics interface
Advanced Settings section.

If the Store ray status data check box is selected in the physics interface Additional
Variables section, then the following additional variables are created:

• The release time of a given ray (variable name rti). This works for secondary rays
and thus allows for extraction of the time at which a secondary ray was released. This
includes reflected rays at material discontinuities and higher diffraction orders at
gratings.
• The time at which a ray stopped at a boundary (variable name st).

28 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

• The final status of the ray (variable name fs). This indicates the status of a ray at a
given point in time. When used during postprocessing, the value always indicates the
status of the ray at the last time step. The value is an integer which has one of the
following values:
- 0 for unreleased rays.
- 1 for rays that are still propagating.
- 2 for frozen rays.
- 3 for stuck rays.
- 4 for rays that have disappeared.

The following variables are only defined during results processing and can
only be evaluated using the Global Evaluation node under Derived Values.
They cannot be plotted as the Color Expression in a Ray Trajectories plot,
or used in the equation system.

• Total number of rays, Nt. This total includes both primary and secondary rays, and
includes rays that have disappeared or have not been released.
• Total number of rays in selection, Nsel. If a selection has been applied to the Ray data
set, the number of rays in that selection can be evaluated.
• Transmission probability, alpha. The probability of rays reaching a specified domain
or boundary selection can be of interest in some Monte Carlo ray tracing
calculations. The Transmission probability variable is the ratio of the number of rays
in a selection to the total number of rays.

The following variables are found in the Release statistics plot group during results
processing.

• Total number of rays released by feature, <tag>.Ntf, where <tag> is the tag of a ray
release feature, such as the Inlet or Release from Grid feature. This global variable is
uniquely defined for each release feature, and gives the total number of rays that are
released by that feature. This includes rays that have disappeared or have otherwise
stopped propagating due to interaction with the surrounding boundaries. It does
not include any secondary rays.

Using Ray Release Features

Rays that are released using the Geometrical Optics interface are either primary or
secondary rays. A ray is considered a primary ray if its initial position and wave vector

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 29
 are defined explicitly. A ray is considered a secondary ray if its release is dependent on
the behavior of another ray that is already present in the model, which may either be a
primary ray or a secondary ray that had been previously released.

For example, when a ray interacts with a Material Discontinuity without undergoing
total internal reflection, two rays propagate away from the boundary, including one
reflected ray and one refracted ray. The degrees of freedom from the incident ray are
re-used as the refracted ray. The additional (reflected) ray that is created during
interaction with the Material Discontinuity is a secondary ray because its initial
conditions are not specified directly, but instead result from an existing ray interacting
with a boundary. The reflected ray may only be released if the total number of released
secondary rays in the model is less than the value of the Maximum number of secondary
rays in the settings window for the physics interface.

If the incident ray undergoes total internal reflection, there is no refracted ray, so the
incident ray’s degrees of freedom are used to launch the reflected ray and no secondary
ray degrees of freedom are used.

The following sections introduce the primary release features that are available in the
Geometrical Optics interface.

GRID-BASED RELEASE OF RAYS

Use the Release from Grid feature to specify the initial positions of rays using a grid of
points. It is useful to release rays from a grid when the initial ray position is known
exactly. A grid-based release may be used, for example, when rays are released from the
focus of a lens or when a system is excited by a laser. This is the easiest way to release
rays from points in the void region outside the geometry.

MESH-BASED RELEASE IN DOMAINS

Use the Release feature to release rays from within a set of domains. The initial ray
positions are based on the mesh elements within the domain. It is possible to assign a
nonuniform initial distribution of rays by entering a function of the spatial coordinates
in the Density proportional to text field.

RELEASE AT BOUNDARIES
The Inlet feature is used to release rays from boundaries. It is possible to release rays
based on the boundary mesh, by specifying a function for the initial density of rays, or
by projecting a grid of points onto the surface. The Inlet feature may be used when rays
enter a system through an aperture of considerable size. It is also possible to initialize
the principal radii of curvature of the rays using the curvature of the inlet surface.

30 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

When a mesh-based or density-based release of rays is used, the initial ray positions may
not be the same in all COMSOL Multiphysics versions or when using different
geometry kernels. However, when a density-based release is used, the total number of
rays can always be specified exactly.

RELEASE USING IMPORTED DATA

The Release from Data File node can be used to import the initial ray positions and
directions from a text file. It is also possible to import the initial values of user-defined
auxiliary dependent variables.

ILLUMINATED SURFACES
Applications of geometrical optics frequently involve plane or spherical waves that
reflect or refract off a large surface, then continue to interact with other nearby objects.
In such cases, significant reduction in computation time, sometimes 50% or greater,
can be achieved by using the Illuminated Surface feature. The Illuminated Surface
feature releases the rays that would result from the reflection or refraction of a
user-defined plane wave or spherical wave at a surface.

Figure 2-4: Comparison of the ray trajectories and intensity when sending rays at a wall
and using a Bounce condition (left) and using the Illuminated Surface feature (right).

As shown in Figure 2-4, the Illuminated Surface feature can be used to compute the ray
trajectories that result from launching a plane wave at a specularly reflecting surface.
The Stokes parameters and the principal radii of curvature of the wavefront are also

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 31
 initialized based on the type of incident wave and the curvature of the surface.
Therefore it is unnecessary to compute the trajectories of rays before they hit the
surface, which may save a significant amount of time and make plots much easier to
interpret.

SOLAR RADIATION
The Solar Radiation feature is similar to the Release from Grid feature but includes
dedicated settings for computing the direction of incident radiation using the time and
location on Earth’s surface. Because rays are given initial radii of curvature of the same
order of magnitude as the distance from the earth to the sun, they behave as plane
waves in most applications.

Releasing Polarized Rays

The default behavior of the ray release features is to treat the rays as unpolarized plane
waves for the purpose of computing intensity and polarization. However, every release
feature except the Solar Radiation node is capable of releasing wavefronts that are
spherical or ellipsoidal in shape, with varying degrees of polarization.

INITIAL RADII OF CURVATURE

In the Settings windows for release features, such as the Release, Release from Grid, and
Inlet features, change the Wavefront shape setting to control the initial principal radii
of curvature of the wavefront. The default setting, Plane wave, sets the initial principal
radii of curvature to be approximately 8 orders of magnitude longer than the
characteristic length of the geometry. In 2D it is also possible to release cylindrical
waves with user-defined principal radii of curvature. The radius of curvature may be
interpreted as the distance to a point at which the ray intensity becomes infinite within

32 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

the approximations of geometrical optics. This distance is considered positive if the
wavefront is converging and negative if the wavefront is diverging.

Figure 2-5: Sign conventions associated with the principal radius of curvature of a
cylindrical wave before and after encountering a caustic at point C.

In 3D it is possible to release spherical waves in which both principal radii of curvature

are equal. The radii of curvature follow the same sign convention as that for wavefronts
in 2D. It is also possible to define the Wavefront shape as an Ellipsoid for which both
principal radii of curvature are initialized independently of each other. It is then
necessary to define an Initial principal curvature direction e1,0.

Figure 2-6: Settings for specifying the initial radii of curvature in 3D.

The orientation of the wavefront is then defined so that the first principal curvature
direction is the radius of the circular arc that is created via the intersection of the
wavefront with a plane that contains the ray direction vector and the principal
curvature direction vector.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 33
 Figure 2-7: Interpretation of the two principal radii of curvature and the first principal
curvature direction vector in 3D models.

INITIAL PO LA RIZATION
By default, the ray release features release unpolarized rays, but it is also possible to
release rays with varying degrees of polarization.

The Stokes parameters of the ray are defined in a local coordinate system with axes
parallel to the ray direction vector, the projection of the principal curvature direction
vector onto a plane perpendicular to the ray direction vector, and the cross product of
these two vectors.

When a Fully polarized or Partially polarized ray is released, select an option from the
Initial polarization list: Along principal curvature direction or User defined. For Along
principal curvature direction the initial Stokes parameters is defined in the local
coordinate system that is used to define the principal radii of curvature. For User
defined another coordinate system may be selected, and the Stokes parameters are
automatically transformed to the coordinate system defined by the principal curvature
direction. It is also possible to define a phase difference between the electric field
components parallel to and perpendicular to the projection of the reference direction

34 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

onto the plane perpendicular to the ray direction vector, resulting in varying degrees
of elliptical polarization.

Figure 2-8: Settings for specifying the initial polarization of a fully polarized ray.

Figure 2-9: Comparison of four initial polarization states. From left to right: Polarization
parallel to the reference direction, polarization perpendicular to the reference direction,
circular polarization, and no polarization.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 35
 Similar options are available in the settings window for the Illuminated Surface node;
the initial radii of curvature and Stokes parameters are then computed from the
interaction of incident rays with a surface.

The principal curvature direction and polarization reference direction do

not need to be perpendicular to the initial ray direction, since their
projections onto a perpendicular plane are computed internally. However,
they must not be parallel to the initial ray direction vector.

Boundary Conditions
The default boundary condition is the Material Discontinuity condition on all interior
and exterior boundaries. For detailed descriptions of the available wall conditions, see
Material Discontinuity and Wall.

When several different media are arranged in layers, it is possible for a very large
number of secondary rays to be released as the incident ray undergoes a series of
reflections between these layers. To prevent the creation of an arbitrarily large number
of secondary rays of extremely low intensity, enter a value or expression in the Threshold
intensity text field in the Material Discontinuity settings window. The release of a
secondary ray is suppressed if its initial intensity would have been less than the
threshold intensity.

The Material Discontinuity node reinitializes ray trajectories whenever a ray crosses the
boundary, even if the media on both sides of the boundary are equal. Although the
resulting ray trajectories are correct and the unnecessary release of secondary rays can
be suppressed, the reinitialization of ray trajectories requires more time than a typical
time step in which all rays merely propagate within domains. To minimize solution
time it is recommended that unnecessary interior boundaries should be removed from
the geometry.

Using Ray Detectors

A Ray Detector feature is a domain or boundary feature that provides information
about rays arriving on a set of selected domains or surfaces from a release feature. Such
quantities include the number of rays transmitted, the transmission probability, and a
logical expression for ray inclusion. The feature provides convenient expressions that
can be used in the Filter node of the Ray Trajectories plot, which allows only the rays

36 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

which reach the ray detector selection to be visualized. The following variables are
provided by the Ray Detector feature, with the feature tag <tag>:

• <tag>.Ntf is number of transmitted rays from the release feature to the ray detector
at the end of the simulation.
• <tag>.alpha is the transmission probability from the release feature to the ray
detector.
• <tag>.rL is a logical expression for ray inclusion. This can be set in the Filter node
of the Ray Trajectories plot in order to visualize the rays which connect the release
feature to the detector.

The Ray Detector feature only creates variables, which do not affect the
solution. Therefore, they can be added to a model without the need to
re-compute the solution, it just needs to be updated. To do this, right
click on the Study node and select Update Solution. The new variables
described above will be immediately available for results processing.

Creating a Mesh for Geometrical Optics Modeling

A mesh must be present on any boundary that the rays may interact with. In addition,
any domains in the selection for the Geometrical Optics interface must be meshed.
Domains outside the selection can be left unmeshed. They are assumed to have the
same Refractive index of exterior domains that is used to model propagation in the
exterior void domain; see the section Domain Selection.

In most cases, the main requirement for a suitable mesh is the resolution on curved
surfaces. While the mesh within on flat surfaces may often be very coarse, the mesh on
boundaries with small principal radii of curvature must be fine enough so that the
direction of the surface normal can be determined accurately; this in turn improves the
accuracy of the reinitialized wave vectors of the reflected and refracted rays. If virtual
operations are included in the geometry sequence or if any form of mesh deformation
is present in the model, then the accuracy of the reinitialized wavefront radii of
curvature also depends on the resolution of the mesh on curved boundaries.

To reduce the mesh size on curved surfaces without creating an unnecessarily fine
mesh elsewhere, reduce the Curvature factor in the Size settings window in the mesh
sequence. A smaller curvature factor gives a finer mesh along curved boundaries. If the
curved surfaces are very small relative to the rest of the geometry, it may be necessary
to reduce the Minimum element size.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 37
 Figure 2-10: Ray trajectories passing through a lens (left). A high-quality mesh (right)
should be finer near the curved surface of the lens.

The following features are used to define dependent variables on domains or

boundaries: Accumulator (Boundary), Accumulator (Domain), and Deposited Ray
Power (Boundary). Because the dependent variables are defined on domain or
boundary elements whereas the rays are treated as occupying infinitesimally small
points in space, the values of the dependent variables that are created by these features
are inherently mesh-dependent. If a very fine mesh is used when one of these features
is present, it may be necessary to increase the total number of rays so that the number
of rays passing through each mesh element is sufficiently large.

An alternative to using an extremely fine mesh is to manually increase the Geometry

shape order in the settings for the model component. By default, most boundary
element surfaces are approximated as quadratic polynomials. Increasing the shape
order to Cubic or Quartic can dramatically increase the accuracy of surface normals
calculated by the Geometrical Optics interface. However, this may increase the
computational cost of other, finite element-based physics interfaces.

Using the Ray Tracing Study Step

The preset study for the Geometrical Optics interface is the Ray Tracing study step. The
Ray Tracing study step is similar to the Time Dependent study step but has a different
default time step size, includes additional options for specifying a range of time steps,
and includes built-in stop conditions for terminating a study when certain criteria are
met.

SPECIFYING A LIST OF TIME STEPS

By default, the Ray Tracing study step computes ray trajectories from t = 0 to t = 1 ns
with a time step size of 0.01 ns. However, it is often useful to think of ray tracing in
terms of the maximum distance of ray propagation instead of the maximum time. To

38 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

express the duration of the study in terms of a maximum optical path length, change
the Time step specification setting from the default, Specify time steps, to Specify
maximum path length. Then select a Length unit (default m), enter a set of Lengths
(default range(0,0.01,1)), and enter a Characteristic group velocity (default
c_const), a built-in constant for the speed of light in a vacuum. With the default solver
settings, the time-dependent solver must take at least one time step whenever the
optical path length of a ray moving at the Characteristic group velocity would have
reached one of the values in the list of Lengths.

BUILT-IN STOP CONDITIONS

Select a Stop condition — None (the default), No active rays remaining, or Active rays
have intensity below threshold.

For None the study step does not create any stop conditions, although stop conditions
can still be added to the solver sequence manually.

For No active rays remaining the study step ends if no rays are active. A ray is considered
active if it has been released but has not reached a boundary with a Freeze, Stick, or
Disappear wall condition.

For Active rays have intensity below threshold the study step ends if all remaining active
rays have intensity less than the value entered in the Threshold ray intensity text field
(default 1[W/m^2]). This option can only be selected if the ray intensity is computed;
that is, the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity or Compute intensity and
power in the Ray Properties section of the physics interface node’s Settings window.
This option can be used to prevent computational resources from being wasted by
computing the trajectories of rays of negligibly small intensity.

To account for thermal expansion or other types of structural deformation

while tracing the rays, use a Moving Mesh (ALE) interface to model the
mesh deformation or, for structural mechanics models, select the Include
geometric nonlinearity check box in the study step Study Settings section
(requires the Structural Mechanics Module, MEMS Module, or Acoustics
Module).

In the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual:

• Ray Tracing
• Studies and Solvers

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 39
 Using the Bidirectionally Coupled Ray Tracing Study
The Bidirectionally coupled ray tracing study step is a dedicated study step for ray
heating and similar applications. It functions like a Ray tracing study step for the
degrees of freedom defined by the Geometrical Optics interface but computes all other
degrees of freedom using a Stationary solver. In addition to the settings that are
available for the Ray tracing study step, it is possible to specify a Number of iterations.
The default value is 5. If the Bidirectionally coupled ray tracing study step is used with
The Ray Heating Interface, the following iterative solver loop is automatically set up
to compute the ray trajectories and temperature:

1 Solve for the temperature field, assuming that the rays do not generate any heat
source.
2 Using the value of the temperature computed during the previous step, compute the
ray trajectories and any heat sources that occur due to the attenuation of rays in an
absorbing medium.
3 Using the heat source computed in the previous step, compute the temperature
field.
4 Alternate between steps 2 and 3 for the specified Number of iterations. Alternatively,
the sequence can end when a specified variable converges to within a specified
tolerance.

The result of the iterative solver loop is that the heat source generated by the
attenuation of rays is taken into account when computing the temperature. If the
refractive index of the medium is a expressed as a function of the temperature, then the
temperature dependence of the refractive index is taken into account when computing
the ray trajectories. Thus, a bidirectional coupling is automatically set up between the
two physics interfaces.

It is possible to extend this bidirectional coupling to include other physical effects. For
example, the addition of the Solid Mechanics interface and the Thermal Expansion and
Temperature Coupling Multiphysics nodes.

To account for thermal expansion or other types of structural deformation

while tracing the rays, use a Moving Mesh (ALE) interface to model the
mesh deformation or, for structural mechanics models, select the Include
geometric nonlinearity check box in the study step Study Settings section
(requires the Structural Mechanics Module, MEMS Module, or Acoustics
Module).

40 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

 In the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual:

• Bidirectionally Coupled Ray Tracing

• Studies and Solvers

Postprocessing Tools
The Ray Optics Module includes several tools for visualizing and analyzing ray
trajectories. The following sections describe the dedicated postprocessing tools for the
Geometrical Optics interface.

R AY TR A J E C T O R I E S P L O T
The Ray Trajectories plot can be added to a 2D or 3D plot group. By default, the
trajectory of each ray is plotted as a line. As shown in Figure 2-2, it is also possible to
apply color expressions and deformations to Ray Trajectories plots.

When the ray intensity is computed, built-in variables for the semi-major and
semi-minor axes of the polarization ellipse are declared. For a physics interface with
name gop, the semi-major axis has components gop.pax, gop.pay, and gop.paz. The
semi-minor axis has components gop.pbx, gop.pby, and gop.pbz.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 41
 Figure 2-11: Polarization ellipses for a circularly polarized ray passing through a series of
linear wave retarders with parallel fast axes.

RAY PLOT
The Ray plot can be added to 1D plot groups. The Ray plot can be used to plot any ray
property over time. Built-in data series operations allow quantities like the sum or
maximum value of an expression over all rays to be computed easily.

Alternatively, two ray properties can be plotted against each other at a specific time.
This can be used, for example, to compare ray intensity versus free-space wavelength,
or to view optical path length as a function of radial position in a beam.

42 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

Figure 2-12: Reflectance of a distributed Bragg reflector with 21 dielectric layers is plotted
as a function of free-space wavelength.

INTERFERENCE PATTERN PLOT

The pattern of fringes resulting from the interference of two or more rays can be
plotted using the dedicated Interference Pattern plot. The Interference Pattern plot is
available in 2D plot groups and requires a Cut Plane data set pointing to a Ray data set.
The interference pattern is then plotted using the locations and properties of rays as
they intersect the cut plane.

For the resulting interference pattern to be physically meaningful, it must be plotted

over a region with a length scale that is much smaller than the principal radii of
curvature of the incident wavefronts. This is equivalent to the assumption that the
wavefront associated with each ray subtends a very small solid angle, and is necessary
due to the approximation used to compute the incident intensity.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 43
 Figure 2-13: Interference pattern resulting from two parallel rays with elliptical
wavefronts of different principal radii of curvature.

Interference Pattern Theory

POINC ARÉ MAPS AND PHASE PO R T RAITS

A Poincaré Map can be used to plot the intersection points of rays with a plane. To use
the Poincaré Map, a Cut Plane data set must first be defined.

By placing the Cut Plane data set at the image plane of an optical system, it is possible
to use the Poincaré Map to create spot diagrams in order to evaluate the performance
of the optical system.

A Phase Portrait can be used to plot the positions of rays in an arbitrarily defined phase
space. For example, it is possible to plot rays in a 2D space in which one coordinate
represents the optical path length and the other coordinate represents intensity.

Computing Monochromatic Aberrations

The Optical Aberration plot and the Aberration Evaluation derived values node are used
to analyze the performance of lens systems within the limit of the geometrical optics

44 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

approach. In order to use the Optical Aberration plot, the following prerequisites must
be met:

• The model component must be 3D.

• An instance of the Geometrical Optics interface must be present and solved for.
• The Compute optical path length check box must be selected in the Geometrical
Optics Settings window before solving.
• An Intersection Point 3D data set must be created. This data set must point to a Ray
data set.
• In the Settings window for the Intersection Point 3D data set, Hemisphere must be
selected from the Surface type list. The Center is the location of the focus and the
Axis direction points from the focus toward the center of the exit pupil.

Using the hemisphere defined in the Intersection Point 3D data set, a Gaussian reference
sphere is defined.

ZER NIKE PO LYNOMIALS

A standard way to quantify monochromatic aberrations is to express the optical path
difference of all incident rays as a linear combination of Zernike polynomials.

Several different standards exist for naming, normalizing, and organizing the Zernike
polynomials. The approach used in this section follows the standards published by the
International Organization for Standardization (ISO, Ref. 2) and the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI, Ref. 3).

Each Zernike polynomial Z nm can be expressed as

Z nm = N nm R nm ( ρ )M ( mθ )

where

• N nm is the normalization term,

• R nm is the radial term,
• M ( mθ ) is the meridional term or azimuthal term,
• ρ is the radial parameter, given by ρ = r/a where r is the distance from the aperture
center and a is the aperture radius, so that 0 ≤ ρ ≤ 1,
• θ is the meridional parameter or azimuthal angle, 0 ≤ θ ≤ 2π,
• the lower index n is a nonnegative integer, n = 0,1,2…, and
• the upper index m is an integer, m = -n,-n+2…n-2,n so that n – m is always even.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 45
 The normalization term N nm is

N nm = ( 2 – δ 0, m ) ( n + 1 )

where δ 0, m is the Kronecker delta,

1 i = j
δ i, j = 
0 i≠j

The radial term is given by the equation

0.5 ( n – m )
( – 1 ) s ( n – s )!
R nm ( ρ ) =  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
s! [ 0.5 ( n + m ) – s ]! [ 0.5 ( n – m ) – s ]!
ρ n – 2s
s=0

where “!” denotes the factorial operator; for nonnegative integers,

 1 n = 0
n! = 
 1 × 2 × 3 ×…×n n>0

The meridional term is given by the equation

 cos ( mθ ) m≥0
M ( mθ ) = 
 sin ( m θ ) m<0

The Zernike polynomials thus defined are normalized Zernike polynomials. They are
orthogonal in the sense that any pair of Zernike polynomials satisfy the equation

1 2π

 ρ dρ  Znm Zn'm' dθ = πδ n, n' δ m, m'

0 0

The normalized Zernike polynomials up to fifth order, along with their common
names, are given in Table 2-1.

TABLE 2-1: ZERNIKE POLYNOMIALS

TERM EXPRESSION COMMON NAME

Z 00 1 Piston

Z 1– 1 2ρ sin ( θ ) Vertical tilt

46 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

TABLE 2-1: ZERNIKE POLYNOMIALS

TERM EXPRESSION COMMON NAME

Z 11 2ρ cos ( θ ) Horizontal tilt

Z 2–2 6ρ 2 sin ( 2θ ) Oblique astigmatism

Z 20 2 Defocus
3 ( 2ρ – 1 )

Z 22 6ρ 2 cos ( 2θ ) Astigmatism

Z 3–3 8ρ 3 sin ( 3θ ) Oblique trefoil

Z 3–1 8 ( 3ρ 3 – 2ρ ) sin ( 3θ ) Vertical coma

Z 31 8 ( 3ρ 3 – 2ρ ) cos ( 3θ ) Horizontal coma

Z 33 8ρ 3 cos ( 3θ ) Horizontal trefoil

Z 4–4 10ρ 4 sin ( 4θ ) Oblique trefoil

Z 4–2 10 ( 4ρ 4 – 3ρ 2 ) sin ( 2θ ) Oblique secondary astigmatism

Z 40 5 ( 6ρ 4 – 6ρ 2 + 1 ) Spherical aberration

Z 42 10 ( 4ρ 4 – 3ρ 2 ) cos ( 2θ ) Secondary astigmatism

Z 44 10ρ 4 cos ( 4θ ) Horizontal trefoil

Z 5–5 12ρ 5 sin ( 5θ )

Z 5–3 12 ( 5ρ 5 – 4ρ 3 ) sin ( 3θ ) ‡

Z 5–1 12 ( 10ρ 5 – 12ρ 3 + 3ρ ) sin ( θ ) †

Z 51 12 ( 10ρ 5 – 12ρ 3 + 3ρ ) cos ( θ ) †

Z 53 12 ( 5ρ 5 – 4ρ 3 ) cos ( 3θ ) ‡

Z 55 12ρ 5 cos ( 5θ )

† This term differs from the expression in Table E.1 in ISO 24157:2008 (Ref. 2),
which contains an error.

‡ This term differs from the expressions in Table E.1 in ISO 24157:2008 (Ref. 2) and
in Annex E in ANSI Z80.28-2010 (Ref. 3), both of which contain an error.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 47
 Figure 2-14: Zernike polynomials on the unit circle.

In the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual:

• Interference Pattern
• Optical Aberration
• Aberration Evaluation
• Ray (Plot)
• Ray Trajectories
• Filter for Ray and Ray Trajectories
• Phase Portrait
• Poincaré Map
• Ray (Data Set) and Data Sets
• Ray Evaluation and Derived Values and Tables
• Plot Groups and Plots

48 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

Component Couplings
The purpose of a model is often to compute the sum, average, maximum value, or
minimum value of a quantity over a group of rays, such as the average intensity or the
maximum path length. An instance of the Geometrical Optics interface with Name
<name> creates the following four component couplings:

• <name>.<name>op1(expr) evaluates the sum of the expression expr over the rays.
The sum includes all rays that are active, frozen, or stuck to boundaries. It excludes
rays that have not yet been released and those that have disappeared.
• <name>.<name>op_all1(expr) evaluates the sum of the expression expr over all
rays, including rays those that are not yet released or have disappeared. Since the
coordinates of unreleased and disappeared rays are not-a-number (NaN), the sum
may return NaN if the model includes unreleased or disappeared rays. An expression
such as gop.gopop1(isnan(qx)) can be used to compute the total number of
unreleased and disappeared rays.
• <name>.<name>aveop1(expr) evaluates the average of the expression expr over
the active, frozen, and stuck rays. Unreleased and disappeared rays contribute to
neither the numerator nor the denominator of the arithmetic mean.
• <name>.<name>aveop_all1(expr) evaluates the average of the expression expr
over all rays. It is likely to return NaN if the model includes unreleased or disappeared
rays.
• <name>.<name>maxop1(expr) evaluates the maximum value of the expression
expr over all active, frozen, and stuck rays.

• <name>.<name>maxop_all1(expr) evaluates the maximum value of the

expression expr over all rays.
• <name>.<name>minop1(expr) evaluates the minimum value of the expression
expr over the active, frozen, and stuck rays.

• <name>.<name>minop_all1(expr) evaluates the minimum value of the expression

expr over all rays.

• <name>.<name>maxop1(expr, evalExpr) evaluates the expression evalExpr for

the ray that has the maximum value of the expression expr out of all active, frozen,
and stuck rays. For example, the expression gop.gopmaxop1(gop.I, qx) would
evaluate the x-coordinate qx of the ray with the greatest intensity gop.I.
• <name>.<name>maxop_all1(expr, evalExpr) evaluates the expression
evalExpr for the ray that has the maximum value of the expression expr for all rays,
including disappeared and unreleased rays.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 49
 • <name>.<name>minop1(expr, evalExpr) evaluates the expression evalExpr for
the ray that has the minimum value of the expression expr out of all active, frozen,
and stuck rays. For example, the expression gop.gopminop1(gop.I, qx) would
evaluate the x-coordinate qx of the ray with the minimum intensity gop.I.
• <name>.<name>minop_all1(expr, evalExpr) evaluates the expression
evalExpr for the ray that has the minimum value of the expression expr for all rays,
including disappeared and unreleased rays.

An instance of the Geometrical Optics interface with the default name gop defines the
built-in component couplings shown in Table 2-2.
TABLE 2-2: BUILT-IN COMPONENT COUPLINGS FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE

NAME DESCRIPTION

gop.gopop1(expr) Sum over rays

gop.gopop_all1(expr) Sum over all rays
gop.gopaveop1(expr) Average over rays
gop.gopaveop_all1(expr) Average over all rays
gop.gopmaxop1(expr) Maximum over rays
gop.gopmaxop_all1(expr) Maximum over all rays
gop.gopminop1(expr) Minimum over rays
gop.gopminop_all1(expr) Minimum over all rays
gop.gopmaxop1(expr, evalExpr) Evaluate at maximum over rays
gop.gopmaxop_all1(expr, evalExpr) Evaluate at maximum over all rays
gop.gopmaxop1(expr, evalExpr) Evaluate at minimum over rays
gop.gopmaxop_all1(expr, evalExpr) Evaluate at minimum over all rays

The Ray Optics Materials Database

The Ray Optics Module includes an additional Optical material database. This database
includes frequency-dependent refractive index data for a variety of organic and
inorganic materials and glasses.

For detailed information about materials see Materials in the COMSOL

Multiphysics Reference Manual.

50 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

Part Libraries
It is possible to define and store sequences of geometry instructions that can be called
multiple times within a model. Such sequences of geometry instructions are called
parts, and each appearance of a part in the geometry sequence is called a part
instance. It is possible to create, save, and call instances of user-defined parts, which
may contain complex combinations of geometry primitives, boolean operations, and
programming instructions such as if/else statements.

A part instance can be treated as a highly application-specific geometry primitive that

can be used to bypass repetitive tasks during the setup of complicated model
geometries consisting of a large number of similar entities. Because parts can be fully
parameterized, multiple instances of a single part can be used to create entities of many
different sizes and shapes. For example, a single part representing a certain type of lens
can be used to create multiple part instances corresponding to lenses of different
diameters and focal lengths.

THE RAY OPTICS MODULE PART LIBRARY

Several add-on modules include specialized, built-in parts that are distributed with the
installation of COMSOL Multiphysics, similar to the way the Application Library
examples are distributed. These can be accessed via the Part Libraries. The Ray Optics
Module includes a part library containing standard geometric entities typically used in
optics applications, such as the following:

• Spherical lenses
• Cylindrical lenses
• Beam splitters
• Parabolic mirrors
• Prisms
• Retroreflectors

All entities in the built-in Part Libraries are fully parameterized, making them easy to
adapt to a wide range of large-scale industrial models.

PA R T VARIAN TS
Many parts in the Part Library for the Ray Optics Module include several different
combinations of parameters, any of which can uniquely specify the size and shape of a
part instance. For example, it may be convenient to define the shape of a lens either by
specifying its radii of curvature or by entering a focal length. Similarly, parabolic

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 51
 reflectors can be specified either by focal length or by diameter and rim angle. These
alternative parameterizations of a single part are called part variants. If a part has two
or more variants, then a part variant can be selected when loading the part into the
model.

For example, in 3D the part spherical_plano_convex_lens_3d is available. This creates

a lens with one convex surface and one flat surface. The lens dimensions can be
specified in terms of any of the following combinations of input parameters:

• Diameter d, radius of curvature R, and edge thickness Te

• Diameter d, radius of curvature R, and center thickness Tc
• Diameter d, effective focal length f, refractive index n, and center thickness Tc

If a part supports multiple variants, then a dialog box appears when loading the part
into the model. The dialog box in Figure 2-15 is shown when loading the spherical
plano-convex lens described in the previous paragraph.

Figure 2-15: Setting to select a part variant when using the Ray Optics Module Part
Library.

Part Libraries in the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual

52 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING

References
1. M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics, 7th ed., Cambridge, 1999.

2. ISO 24157:2008: Ophthalmic optics and instruments — Reporting aberrations

of the human eye. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva,
Switzerland.

3. ANSI Z80.28-2010: American National Standard for Ophthalmics — Methods

of Reporting Optical Aberrations of Eyes. American National Standards Institute,
Alexandria VA.

GEOMETRICAL OPTICS | 53
54 | CHAPTER 2: RAY OPTICS MODELING
 3

Ray Optics

This chapter describes the physics interfaces found under the Optics>Ray Optics
branch ( ).

In this chapter:

• The Geometrical Optics Interface

• Theory for the Geometrical Optics Interface
• The Ray Heating Interface

55
 T he Ge o m e t r i cal O p t i c s In t erfac e
The Geometrical Optics (gop) interface ( ), found under the Optics>Ray Optics
branch ( ) when adding a physics interface, computes the paths of electromagnetic
rays. In addition, it can compute the ray intensity, polarization, phase, and optical path
length. The physics interface works on geometries, deformed geometries, and with
models utilizing ALE.

When this physics interface is added, these default nodes are also added to the Model
Builder—Medium Properties, Material Discontinuity, and Ray Properties. Then, from the
Physics toolbar, add other nodes that implement, for example, boundary conditions.
You can also right-click Geometrical Optics to select physics features from the context
menu.

SETTINGS
The Label is the default physics interface name.

The Name is used primarily as a scope prefix for variables defined by the physics
interface. Refer to such physics interface variables in expressions using the pattern
<name>.<variable_name>. In order to distinguish between variables belonging to
different physics interfaces, the name string must be unique. Only letters, numbers, and
underscores (_) are permitted in the Name field. The first character must be a letter.

The default Name (for the first physics interface in the model) is gop.

RAY RELEASE AND PROPAGATION

The settings in this section affect the way in which primary and secondary rays are
released.

Select the Allow frequency distributions at release features check box to allow radiation
of multiple different frequency values to be modeled simultaneously. This option
allocates an auxiliary dependent variable for the frequency of each ray, so the total
number of degrees of freedom increases by 1 per ray. The ray frequency can be
specified at release features by entering a value or expression, sampling the frequency
from a distribution, or entering a list of values. By default, this check box is cleared so
that all rays are assigned the same frequency, which is specified in the Ray Properties
settings window.

Enter a value for the Refractive index of exterior domains (dimensionless). The default
value is 1. This value of the refractive index is used when tracing rays outside of the

56 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

domain selection of the Geometrical Optics physics interface. It is also used when rays
propagate in the void region outside the geometry. Some limitations apply, as
described in the Domain Selection section of the Ray Optics Modeling chapter.

The Maximum number of secondary rays prevents an inordinate number of rays from
being generated by capping them at the number supplied in the text field. The default
is 500. Rather than being produced directly by release features such as the Release from
Grid node, secondary rays are released when an existing ray is subjected to certain
boundary conditions. For example, when a ray undergoes refraction at a Material
Discontinuity between different media, the incident ray is refracted and a reflected ray
is created; the degrees of freedom for this reflected ray are taken from one of the
available secondary rays, which are preallocated when the study begins.

If an insufficient number of secondary rays are preallocated, a reflected ray may not be
released when an existing ray undergoes refraction, even if some radiation should be
reflected at the material discontinuity. However, if a very large number of secondary
rays are preallocated, then the number of degrees of freedom may become
unnecessarily large. Thus, the Maximum number of secondary rays should be large
enough that all reflected rays which significantly affect the solution can be released.
Note that rays undergoing total internal reflection at material discontinuities are not
considered secondary rays and do not require extra preallocated degrees of freedom.

Secondary rays are also required to release reflected rays of order zero and all higher
diffraction orders when the Grating node and Diffraction Order subnodes are used to
model the interaction of radiation with diffraction gratings.

INTENSITY COMPUTATION
The settings in this section control the treatment of ray intensity and polarization.
These settings are also important in multiphysics applications such as ray heating.

Select an option from the Intensity computation list — None (the default), Compute
intensity, Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute
intensity and power in graded media. For None the ray intensity is not computed.

• For Compute intensity auxiliary dependent variables are used to compute the
intensity and polarization of each ray. For a complete list of the auxiliary dependent
variables that are defined, see Intensity, Wavefront Curvature, and Polarization in
Theory for the Geometrical Optics Interface. This option is more accurate and is
usually less computationally demanding than Compute intensity in graded media but
is only valid for computing intensity in homogeneous (not graded index) media.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 57

 • For Compute intensity and power the total power transmitted by each ray is defined
as an auxiliary dependent variable, in addition to the auxiliary dependent variables
that are declared when Compute intensity is selected. The Deposited Ray Power
(Boundary) subnode is available for the Wall feature. In addition, if a heat transfer
interface such as the Heat Transfer in Solids interface is included in the model, the
Ray Heat Source multiphysics node can be used to compute the heat source due to
attenuation of rays within domains.
• For Compute intensity in graded media auxiliary dependent variables are used to
compute the intensity and polarization of each ray. For a complete list of the
auxiliary dependent variables that are defined, see Intensity, Wavefront Curvature,
and Polarization in Theory for the Geometrical Optics Interface. This intensity
computation method is valid for both homogeneous (constant refractive index) and
graded media. If all media are homogeneous then it is recommended to select
Compute intensity instead, since it is more accurate.
• For Compute intensity and power in graded media the total power transmitted by each
ray is defined as an auxiliary dependent variable, in addition to the auxiliary
dependent variables that are declared when Compute intensity in graded media is
selected. The Deposited Ray Power (Boundary) subnode is available for the Wall
feature. In addition, if a heat transfer interface like the Heat Transfer in Solids
interface is included in the model, the Ray Heat Source multiphysics node can be
used to compute the heat source due to attenuation of rays within domains. If all
media are homogeneous then it is recommended to select Compute intensity and
power instead.

The Compute phase check box is shown when the Intensity computation is set to
Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded media, or
Compute intensity and power in graded media. Select the check box to allocate an
auxiliary dependent variable for the phase of each ray. When the phase of each ray is
computed, it is possible to plot interference patterns and visualize the instantaneous
electric field components of polarized rays in postprocessing. When this check box is
selected, the total number of degrees of freedom increases by 1 per ray.

The Use corrections for strongly absorbing media check box is shown when the Intensity
computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity
in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media. Select the check box
to accurately model reflection and refraction of rays at boundaries between strongly
absorbing media, in which the imaginary part of the refractive index is very large. This
option allocates two or three auxiliary dependent variables per ray based on space
dimension. For more information about the way this option affects the intensity

58 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

calculation, see Refraction in Strongly Absorbing Media in Theory for the Geometrical
Optics Interface.

When the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and
power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded
media, enter a value or expression for the Reference intensity (SI unit: W/m2). The
reference intensity represents the approximate order of magnitude of the intensity of a
typical ray in the model. The default value is 1000 W/m2. It is recommended to
change the reference intensity only when modeling systems of rays in which the
intensity is many orders of magnitude greater than or less than 1000 W/m2. The
reference intensity is used to define numerical tolerances that are used internally by
some release features and boundary conditions.

When the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity in graded media or Compute
intensity and power in graded media enter a Tolerance for curvature tensor computation
(dimensionless). This tolerance is used internally when computing the principal radii
of curvature of propagating wavefronts in a graded medium. A larger tolerance makes
the solution less accurate but more stable.

ADDITION AL VAR IA BL ES
The options in this section can be used to activate additional variables other than those
that are used to compute intensity or define the ray frequency. By default, all of the
check boxes in this section are cleared, meaning that none of the optional variables are
declared.

Select the Compute optical path length check box to allocate an auxiliary dependent
variable for the optical path length of each ray. It is possible to reset the optical path
length to 0 when rays interact with boundaries.

Select the Store ray status data check box to add new variables for quantities that
cannot necessarily be recovered from the ray trajectory data alone. This is especially
true if automatic remeshing is used in a model. The following variables are created:

• The release time of a given ray (variable name rti).

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 59

 • The time at which a ray stopped at a boundary (variable name st).
• The final status of the ray (variable name fs). This indicates the status of a ray at the
final time step. The value is an integer which has one of the following values:

- 0 for unreleased rays

- 1 for rays that are still in the modeling domain
- 2 for frozen rays
- 3 for stuck rays
- 4 for rays that have disappeared

To summarize the total number of rays having each final status, the following global
variables are also defined.
TABLE 3-1: GLOBAL VARIABLES BASED ON RAY STATUS

NAME DESCRIPTION

fac Fraction of active rays at final time step

fds Fraction of disappeared rays at final time step
ffr Fraction of frozen rays at final time step
fse Fraction of secondary rays released
fst Fraction of stuck rays at final time step

The global variable names in Table 3-1 all take the unreleased secondary rays into
account. For example, suppose an instance of the Geometrical Optics interface
includes 100 primary rays and 100 allocated secondary rays. At the last time step,
suppose that 80 of the primary rays have disappeared at boundaries and that 40
secondary rays have been emitted, all of which are still active. Then the variable
gop.fac, the fraction of active rays at the final time step, would have the value
(20 + 40)/(100 + 100) or 0.3.

ADVANCED SETTINGS
This section is only shown when Advanced Physics Options are enabled (click the Show
button on the Model Builder).

The Wall accuracy order sets the accuracy order of the time stepping used for time steps
during which a ray-wall interaction happens. Select an order of 1 to use a forward Euler
step and compute the motion both before and after the wall interaction. Select an
order of 2 (the default) to use a second-order Taylor method to compute the trajectory
before the wall interaction. After the ray-wall interaction a second-order Runge-Kutta
method is used.

60 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

Select an option from the Arguments for random number generation list — Generate
unique arguments (the default), Generate random arguments, or User defined. This
setting determines how the additional argument to random functions is defined in
features such as the Wall boundary condition with the Diffuse scattering wall condition.
Typically the random numbers are functions of the ray index, position, time, and
another argument i, defined as follows:

• For Generate unique arguments the additional argument is based on the position of
each node in the Model Builder. As a result, random numbers generated in different
nodes are created independently of each other, but the same result can be
reproduced by running the same study several times.
• For Generate random arguments the additional argument is randomly created,
causing the random functions to return different results each time the study is run.
• For User defined the additional argument is defined by a user input in the Settings
window for each feature. Independent solutions can be obtained by running a
parametric sweep for different values of i.

By default the Allow propagation outside selected domains check box is selected. When
this check box is selected, rays can propagate in domains that are not included in the
selection for the physics interface. These exterior domains do not need to be meshed.
Rays can even propagate through the void region outside the geometry. However, all
boundaries that the rays interact with must be meshed.

If a boundary condition is applied to a surface that is not adjacent to any domains in

the selection for the physics interface, the default meshing algorithm will automatically
create a boundary mesh as needed.

There are a variety of ways to make rays propagate outside the geometry.
The most straightforward ways are to use the Release from Grid feature
and specify initial coordinates that are not within any domain.
Alternatively, rays can escape from a domain into the exterior of the
physics interface selection due to the Material Discontinuity boundary
condition on exterior boundaries.

The Allow multiple release times check box, which is cleared by default, allows an array
of release times for the rays to be specified in any of the ray release features. If the check
box is cleared, all rays are released at time t = 0.

Enter a value for the Maximum number of wall interactions per time step. The default
value is 1000. If a ray undergoes more than the specified number of boundary

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 61

 interactions in a single time step taken by the solver, the ray will disappear. This is
included as a safeguard to prevent rays from getting stuck in infinite loops if the time
between successive ray-wall interactions becomes infinitesimally small.

DEPENDENT VARIABLES
The dependent variables (field variables) are the components of the Ray position and
Wave vector. The name can be changed but the names of fields and dependent variables
must be unique within a model.

• Domain, Boundary, and Global Nodes for the Geometrical Optics

Interface
• Theory for the Geometrical Optics Interface

Domain, Boundary, and Global Nodes for the Geometrical Optics

Interface
The Geometrical Optics Interface has these domain, boundary, and global nodes and
subnodes (listed in alphabetical order) available from the Physics ribbon toolbar
(Windows users), Physics context menu (Mac or Linux users), or right-click to access
the context menu (all users).

In general, to add a node, go to the Physics toolbar, no matter what

operating system you are using. Subnodes are available by clicking the
parent node and selecting it from the Attributes menu.

In the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual see Table 2-3 for links
to common sections and Table 2-4 to common feature nodes. You can
also search for information: press F1 to open the Help window or Ctrl+F1
to open the Documentation window.

62 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 • Accumulator (Boundary) • Mueller Matrix
• Accumulator (Domain) • Nonlocal Accumulator
• Auxiliary Dependent Variable • Photometric Data Import
• Axial Symmetry • Ray Continuity
• Circular Wave Retarder • Ray Detector
• Deposited Ray Power (Boundary) • Ray Properties
• Deposited Ray Power (Domain) • Ray Termination
• Diffraction Order • Release
• Grating • Release from Data File
• Ideal Depolarizer • Release from Edge
• Illuminated Surface • Release from Grid
• Inlet • Release from Grid on Axis
• Inlet on Axis • Release from Point
• Linear Polarizer • Release from Point on Axis
• Linear Wave Retarder • Solar Radiation
• Material Discontinuity • Thin Dielectric Film
• Medium Properties • Wall

In the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual see Table 2-3 for links
to common sections and Table 2-4 to common feature nodes. You can
also search for information: press F1 to open the Help window or Ctrl+F1
to open the Documentation window.

Medium Properties
Use the Medium Properties node to specify the refractive index of the medium.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 63

 MEDIUM PROPERTIES
The default Refractive index n (dimensionless) uses values From material. For User
defined enter a value or expression. Only ray propagation in isotropic media can be
modeled with the Geometrical Optics interface.

If the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power,
Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media
under the physics interface Intensity Computation section, specify the Refractive index,
imaginary part k (dimensionless). By default the Refractive index, imaginary part k uses
values From material. For User defined enter a value or expression. The convention
followed by the Geometrical Optics interface is that an the imaginary part of the
refractive index is negative in absorbing media. A positive value indicates a gain
medium, meaning that the ray intensity will typically increase along the ray trajectory.

The refractive index can be a function of variables that are defined on the rays or on
the domains. However, to make the refractive index a function of a ray property such
as frequency or free-space wavelength, the ray variable must be enclosed in the
noenv() operator. For example, to make the refractive index a linear function of the
free-space wavelength, enter an expression such as
1.5-0.01*noenv(gop.lambda0/1[um]).

Wall
Use the Wall node to determine what happens to the rays when contact with a
boundary is made.

The Accumulator (Boundary) subnode is available from the context menu (right-click
the parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes menu. If the Intensity
computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity
in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media under the physics
interface Intensity Computation section, the Thin Dielectric Film subnode is also
available. If the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity and power or Compute
intensity and power in graded media, the Deposited Ray Power (Boundary) subnode is
also available.

64 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

WAL L CO N DIT IO N
Select a Wall condition — Freeze (the default), Specular Reflection, Stick, Disappear, Pass
through, Diffuse scattering, Mixed diffuse and specular reflection, or General reflection.

TABLE 3-2: WALL CONDITION OPTIONS

OPTIONS DESCRIPTION

Freeze Select to fix the ray position and wave vector at the instant a wall is
struck. So, the ray position no longer changes after contact with the
wall and the wave vector of the ray remains at the same value as when
the ray struck the wall. This boundary condition is typically used to
recover the ray intensity or phase at the instant contact was made with
the wall.
Specular Select to specularly reflect from the wall. Reinitialization of the principal
Reflection radii of curvature of the reflected ray is consistent with the algorithms
used for reflected rays at material discontinuities. This means, for
example, that the ray intensity may become very large or very small in
magnitude after being specularly reflected by a curved surface,
depending on the concavity.
Stick Select to fix the ray position at the instant the wall is struck. The wave
vector components are set to zero.
Disappear This option means that the ray is not displayed once it has made
contact with the wall. Use it if the ray location after contact with the
wall is not of interest.
Pass through This option allows rays to cross the boundary unimpeded.
The Pass Through condition does not cause rays to be refracted at the
boundary between different materials. If used at the boundary between
two different media, it is possible for the resulting rays to undergo a
non-physical change in angular frequency and wave vector magnitude.
To model refraction, instead use the Material Discontinuity node.
Diffuse Select to reflect rays at a wall according to Lambert’s cosine law. That
scattering is, the probability of a reflected ray propagating in a given direction
within a solid angle dω is given by cos(θ)dω where θ is the angle
between the direction of the ray and the wall normal.
Mixed Select to reflect rays at a wall either specularly or according to
diffuse and Lambert’s cosine law, based on a user-defined probability. By combining
specular this wall condition with a Primary ray condition, it is possible to include
reflection up to three different types of ray-wall interactions at a single boundary.
General Select to allow an arbitrary direction vector to be specified after a ray
reflection makes contact with the wall. The ray direction vector components can
be functions of the incident ray direction, phase, or any other quantity.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 65

 GENERAL REFLECTION SETTINGS
This section is available when General reflection (see Table 3-2) is selected as the Wall
condition.

Enter values for the Reflected ray direction vector Lp (dimensionless) either in Cartesian
coordinates (x, y, z) (the default) or select the Specify tangential and normal direction
vector components check box to enter coordinates in the tangent-normal coordinate
system (t1, t2, n). In this case the normal direction is selected so that an incident ray is
reflected back into the domain it previously occupied if the specified normal direction
vector component is positive. The tangential directions are oriented so that they form
a right-handed coordinate system, together with the normal direction.

PRIMARY RAY CONDITION

Select a Primary ray condition — None (the default), Probability, or Expression. When
the default, None, is kept, it means that the Wall condition is always respected by the
incident rays.

Probability
If Probability is selected, the Wall condition is applied with a certain probability. Enter
a value for the Probability, γ (dimensionless). If the Wall condition is not used, the ray
instead behaves according to the Otherwise setting.

The value of γ should always be between 0 and 1.

For example, if the Wall condition is set to:

• Freeze and γ is set to 0.1, then for every 10 rays that strike the wall, on average one
freezes and the remaining 9 rays behave according to the Otherwise setting.
• Stick and γ is set to 0.5 then on average half of the rays stick to the wall and the other
half behave according to the Otherwise setting.

Expression
If Expression is selected, the Evaluation expression e (dimensionless) is evaluated
whenever a ray strikes the wall. The default expression is 1. If the Evaluation expression
is nonzero, the ray behaves according to the Wall condition, otherwise the ray behaves
according to the Otherwise setting.

66 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

Otherwise
The options available for the Otherwise setting are the same as for the Wall Condition,
except that General reflection and Mixed diffuse and specular reflection are not available.
The Otherwise setting can be used to make rays interact with a wall differently with a
certain probability or when a certain condition is satisfied. For example, to model
reflection at a partially specular surface in which 50% of the ray intensity is absorbed
and 30% is reflected specularly:

• Select Mixed diffuse and specular reflection as the Wall condition,

• set the Probability of specular reflection to 0.3/(1-0.5),
• set the Primary ray condition to Probability,
• set the Probability to 1-0.5, and
• select Freeze as the Otherwise option.

ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT
This section is available when

• the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power,
Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media
under the physics interface Intensity Computation section, and
• the Wall condition is set to Specular Reflection, Diffuse scattering, General reflection, or
Mixed diffuse and specular reflection.

Select one of the following from the Compute reflected intensity using list: Absorption
coefficients or Reflection coefficients.

For Absorption coefficients enter the Absorption coefficient α (dimensionless). The

default is 0. The intensity of the reflected ray will be proportional to 1-α.

For Reflection coefficients enter the Reflection coefficient r (dimensionless). The default
value is 1. The intensity of the reflected ray will be proportional to r2.

If the Wall condition is set to Mixed diffuse and specular reflection, this section is instead
called Absorption Coefficients and the absorption coefficients for the diffusely and
specularly reflected rays are specified separately. All of the text fields are given
subscripts s and d for specularly and diffusely reflected rays, respectively.

N EW VA L U E O F A U X I L I A R Y D E P E N D E N T VA R I A BL E S
This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 67

 When a ray crosses or touches a boundary, the value of any user-defined auxiliary
dependent variable can be changed. The value can be a function of any combinations
of ray variables and variables defined on the boundary. A simple application is to use
this to count the number of times a ray strikes the wall.

Select the Assign new value to auxiliary variable check box or boxes based on the
number of auxiliary variables in the model. Then enter the new value or expression in
the field. For example, if there is an auxiliary variable, psi, then enter a value for psinew
in the field. So, to increment the value of psi by 1 when a ray touches or crosses a
boundary, enter psi+1 in the text field for psinew.

ADVANCED SETTINGS
If the Primary ray condition is set to Probability, or if the Diffuse scattering or Mixed
diffuse and specular reflection wall condition is used, then the Wall feature generates
random numbers.

If, in addition, the Arguments for random number generation setting is set to User defined
in the physics interface Advanced Settings section, the Advanced Settings section is
available.

Enter the Additional input argument to random number generator i (dimensionless). The
default value is 1.

The Advanced Settings section is also shown if the Compute optical path length check
box is selected under the physics interface Additional Variables section. Select the Reset
optical path length check box to set the optical path length to 0 when a ray touches the
wall.

Axial Symmetry
The Axial Symmetry node is automatically added to 2D axisymmetric models. The
options available for the feature are the same as for Wall, except as follows. The
Boundary Selection is locked and is only applicable to the symmetry axis. The only wall
conditions available are Specular Reflection (the default), Freeze, Stick, and Disappear. In
addition, the Primary Ray Condition section is not included. The Axial Symmetry

68 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

boundary condition does not affect ray intensity or polarization, except to introduce a
phase delay of π to compensate for the change in the principal curvature direction.

The Axial Symmetry condition only applies to straight boundaries that are
both on the axis of symmetry and adjacent to a domain in the selection of
the physics interface. If rays are propagating in the void region outside of
the selected domains, it is possible for the rays to enter the region where
r < 0, even though no geometry is defined there.

To ensure that rays cannot propagate into the region where r < 0, draw
line segments on the parts of the symmetry axis where no geometric
entities exist, then add the Wall node to these edges. Keep in mind that
rays can only be subjected to boundary conditions if the corresponding
boundaries are meshed.

Accumulator (Boundary)
The Accumulator subnode is available from the context menu (right-click the Wall or
Material Discontinuity parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes menu. Each
Accumulator subnode defines a variable, called the accumulated variable, on each
boundary element in the selection of the parent node. The accumulated variables are
incremented when rays interact with the boundaries where they are defined.

ACCUMULATOR SETTINGS
Select an option from the Accumulator type list — Density (default) or Count.

• For Density the accumulated variable is divided by the surface area of the boundary
element where it is defined.
• For Count the accumulated variable is the sum of the source terms of all rays that hit
the boundary element, and is unaffected by the boundary element size.

Select an option from the Accumulate over list — Ray-wall interactions (the default) or
Rays in boundary elements.

• For Ray-wall interactions the accumulated variable is affected by all rays that hit the
boundary element.
• For Rays in boundary elements the accumulated variable is only affected by rays that
freeze or stick to the boundary element.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 69

 Enter the Accumulated variable name. The default is rpb. The accumulated variable is
defined as <scope>.<name>, where <scope> includes the name of the physics
interface node, parent boundary condition, and the Accumulator node, and <name> is
the accumulated variable name.

For example, if the Accumulator subnode is added to a Wall node in an instance of the
Geometrical Optics interface using the default variable name rpb, the accumulated
variable name might be gop.wall1.bacc1.rpb.

Enter a Source R. The unit of the source term depends on the settings in the Units
section. Whenever a ray collides with a boundary element in the selection of the parent
node, the accumulated variable in that element is incremented by the source term. If
the Accumulator type is set to Density, the source term is divided by the area of the
boundary element (in 3D) or the length of the boundary element (in 2D).

For example, if the source is 1 and Count is selected from the Accumulator type list, a
variable is created to store the number of times each boundary element is hit by a ray.

UNITS
Select a Dependent variable quantity from the list; the default is Dimensionless [1]. To
enter a unit, select None from the list and in the Unit field enter a value, for example, K,
m/s, or mol/m^3.

SMOOTHING
The accumulated variables are computed using discontinuous shape functions. Select
the Compute smoothed accumulated variable check box to compute a smoothed
accumulated variable by computing the average value of the variable within a sphere of
a user-defined radius. Then enter a Smoothing radius r (SI unit: m). The default is
0.1[m].

Accumulator Theory: Boundaries

Material Discontinuity
The Material Discontinuity node is the default boundary feature on all boundaries. It
computes the initial direction of the refracted ray using Snell’s law. If extra degrees of
freedom have been allocated for secondary rays, a reflected ray is also produced. If the

70 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

incident ray undergoes total internal reflection, no refracted ray is produced and no
secondary rays are needed to release the reflected ray.

If Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power,

Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media in
the physics interface Intensity Computation section, the Material Discontinuity feature
computes the radii of curvature and the Stokes parameters of the reflected and
refracted rays.

The maximum number of reflected rays can be controlled via the

Maximum number of secondary rays text field, which is found under the Ray
Release and Propagation section for the physics interface.

The Accumulator (Boundary) subnode is available from the context menu (right-click
the parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes menu. The Thin Dielectric
Film subnode is also available if the following conditions are met:

• One of the following options is selected from the Intensity computation list in the
physics interface Intensity computation section: Compute intensity, Compute intensity
and power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in
graded media.
• One of the following options is selected from the Thin dielectric films on boundary
list in the Coatings section: Add layers to surface or Add layers to surface, repeating.

COATINGS
This section is available if Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute
intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power
in graded media under the Intensity Computation section for the physics interface. Use
the options in this section to add thin dielectric layers to the boundary between the
media. These thicknesses of these layers should be small relative to the coherence
length of the radiation, and is often comparable in length scale to the free-space
wavelength.

Select an option from the Thin dielectric films on boundary list — None (the default),
Add layers to surface, Add layers to surface, repeating, Anti-reflective coating, Single-layer
coating, specified thickness, Single-layer coating, specified reflectance, or Single-layer
coating, specified transmittance.

• If None is selected, rays undergo reflection and refraction at the boundary as if there
were no dielectric films present.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 71

 • If Add layers to surface is selected, apply thin dielectric layers to the Material
Discontinuity by adding one or more Thin Dielectric Film subnodes. If multiple thin
films are added to a single surface, they are arranged in the same order as the
corresponding Thin Dielectric Film subnodes in the Model Builder.
• If Add layers to surface, repeating is selected, apply thin dielectric layers to the
Material Discontinuity by adding one or more Thin Dielectric Film subnodes. Also
enter a value or expression for the Number of repeating unit cells N (dimensionless).
The default value is 3. It is possible to choose which individual layers are included
in the repeating unit cell and which layers only appear once in the settings for the
Thin Dielectric Film subnodes. Use this option to specify periodic arrangements of
dielectric layers for structures such as dielectric mirrors.
• If Anti-reflective coating is selected, enter a value or expression for the Vacuum
wavelength for specified film properties λ0 (SI unit: m). The default value is 660 nm.
Enter a value or expression for the Angle of incidence for specified film properties θi
(SI unit: rad). The default value is 0. Select an option from the Specified film
behavior applies to list — S-polarized radiation (the default) or P-polarized radiation.
Select an option from the Specified film behavior applies to list — With respect to
upside (the default) or With respect to downside.
• If Single-layer coating, specified thickness is selected, enter a value or expression for
the Film refractive index n (dimensionless). The default value is 1. Then enter a value
or expression for the Film thickness t (SI unit: m). The default value is 1 μm.
• If Single-layer coating, specified reflectance is selected, select an option from the
Specified film behavior applies to list — S-polarized radiation (the default) or
P-polarized radiation. Select an option from the Specified film behavior applies to list
— With respect to upside (the default) or With respect to downside. In addition, enter
values or expressions for the following:
- Film refractive index n (dimensionless). The default is 1.
- Reflectance R (dimensionless). The default is 0.1.
- Vacuum wavelength for specified film properties λ0 (SI unit: m). The default is
660 nm.
- Angle of incidence for specified film properties θi (SI unit: m). The default is 0.

• If Single-layer coating, specified transmittance is selected, select an option from the

Specified film behavior applies to list — S-polarized radiation (the default) or
P-polarized radiation. Select an option from the Specified film behavior applies to list

72 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 — With respect to upside (the default) or With respect to downside. In addition, enter
values or expressions for the following:
- Film refractive index n (dimensionless). The default is 1.
- Transmittance T (dimensionless). The default is 0.9.
- Vacuum wavelength for specified film properties λ0 (SI unit: m). The default is
660 nm.
- Angle of incidence for specified film properties θi (SI unit: m). The default is 0.

The option Anti-reflective coating automatically computes the refractive index and
thickness of a single-layer dielectric coating to yield zero reflectance for the specified
free-space wavelength, polarization, and angle of incidence. Similarly, the options
Single-layer coating, specified reflectance and Single-layer coating, specified transmittance
automatically compute the thickness of a dielectric layer of the specified refractive
index to yield the specified reflectance or transmittance.

If the material properties on either side of the material discontinuity differ, rays with
the same angle of incidence will be subjected to different reflectances, depending on
which domain they approach the boundary from. Use the Specified film behavior applies
to list to determine whether the specified reflectance applies to rays incident from the
upside or downside of the boundary. It is convenient to select the Show boundary
normal check box (see Advanced Settings below) when identifying the upside and
downside of the boundary, since the boundary normal points from the upside to the
downside.

THRESHOLD INTENSITY
This section is available if Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute
intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power
in graded media under the Intensity Computation section for the physics interface.

Enter a Threshold intensity Ith (SI unit: W/m2). The default is 1·10-3 W/m2. If the
interaction of a ray with a material discontinuity would create a reflected ray of
intensity less than the threshold intensity, the release of this reflected ray is suppressed.
This prevents an arbitrarily large number of degrees of freedom from being used to
model the propagation of rays of exponentially decreasing intensity. When a nonzero
threshold intensity is specified, some small decreases in the total energy of the system
may be observed if the release of low-intensity secondary rays is suppressed.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 73

 AUXIL IA R Y D EP E NDE N T VAR IA BL E S, REFRA C TED RAY
If an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the model then there is an
option to reinitialize the values of auxiliary dependent variables for the refracted ray.
These setting are the same as in the New Value of Auxiliary Dependent Variables
section for the Wall feature.

AUXILIAR Y D EPENDENT VARIABLES, REFLECTED RAY

If an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the model then there is an
option to reinitialize the values of auxiliary dependent variables for the reflected ray.
These setting are the same as in the New Value of Auxiliary Dependent Variables
section for the Wall feature.

ADVANCED SETTINGS
Select the Show boundary normal check box to view the boundary normal in the
Graphics window.

Visualization of the boundary normal is important when adding multiple

Thin Dielectric Film subnodes, since the thin films are oriented from the
upside of the boundary to the downside in the same order as displayed in
the Model Builder.

If the Compute optical path length check box is selected in the physics interface
Additional Variables section, select the Reset optical path length check box to set the
optical path length of reflected and refracted rays to 0. Otherwise both the reflected
and refracted ray inherit the optical path length of the incident ray.

Material Discontinuity Theory

Thin Dielectric Film

Use the Thin Dielectric Film subnode to model the interaction of rays with walls or
material discontinuities that are coated with thin, transparent dielectric layers. The
thickness of the film should be of approximately the same order of magnitude as the
wavelength of the ray. The subnode is available from the context menu (right-click the
Material Discontinuity or Wall parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes
menu.

74 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

The Thin Dielectric Film subnode is applied to all boundaries in the selection of the Wall
or Material Discontinuity parent node. The effects of the Thin Dielectric Film subnodes
are applied when computing the coefficients of reflection and transmission, which are
necessary for the reinitialization of Stokes parameters during reflection and refraction
when Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power,
Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media
under the Intensity Computation section for the physics interface

FILM PROPERTIES
Enter a Film refractive index n (dimensionless). The default value is 1. Then enter a Film
thickness t (SI unit m). The default is 1 μm.

REPEATING MULTILAYER FILMS

If Add layers to surface, repeating is selected from the Thin dielectric films on boundary
list in the Coatings section in the settings window for the parent node, this section is
used to determine which layers are part of the repeating unit cell of a periodic
multilayer film. If the Repeat layer in multilayer films check box is selected, the layer is
repeated a number of times equal to the Number of repeating unit cells specified in the
parent node settings window. If the check box is cleared, the layer will appear only once
in multilayer films.

Thin Dielectric Film Theory

Ray Properties
The behavior of the Ray Properties node is based on whether the Allow frequency
distributions at release features check box is selected under the physics interface Ray
Release and Propagation section.

By default, the check box is not selected. Then the Ray Properties node is used to
specify the free-space wavelength or frequency of the rays. When the check box is
selected, the ray frequency is specified in the individual release features.

RAY PROPER TIES

This section is shown when the Allow frequency distributions at release features check
box is cleared in the physics interface Ray Release and Propagation section.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 75

 Select an option from the Ray property specification list — Specify vacuum wavelength
(the default) or Specify frequency.

• For Specify vacuum wavelength enter a Vacuum wavelength λ0 (SI unit: m). The
default is 660 nm.

• For Specify frequency enter a Ray frequency v (SI unit: Hz). The default is
4.54 × 1014 Hz.

Photometric Data Import

The Photometric Data Import node is only available in 3D.

It is also only available when Compute intensity, Compute intensity and

power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power
in graded media is selected from the Intensity computation list in the
physics interface Intensity Computation section.

Use the Photometric Data Import node to import photometric data files that can be
used to initialize the ray intensity and power as a function of the initial ray direction.
The Photometric Data Import node supports the *.ies file extension, the standard
photometric data file format of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America
(IESNA).

PHOTOMETRIC DATA IMPORT

Enter a File name, or click the Browse button to locate a photometric data file. When a
valid file path has been entered, click the Import button to load the photometric data
into the model.

76 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

If photometric data has already been loaded by the Photometric Data Import feature,
instead click the Discard button to discard this data and clear the File name field.

After creating an instance of the Photometric Data Import feature and

loading an appropriately formatted IES file into the model, initialize the
ray intensity as a function of initial ray direction by changing the following
settings in a ray release feature such as the Release or Release from Grid
feature:

• Select Spherical, Hemispherical, Conical, or Lambertian from the Ray

direction vector list in the physics feature Ray Direction Vector section.
• Locate the Total Source Power section. From the Intensity initialization
list, select an instance of the Photometric Data Import feature.
• Enter values or expressions for the Photometric horizontal and
Photometric zero directions.

Photometric Data Formatting

The format of the imported photometric data file must be consistent with
ANSI/IESNA LM-63-02 (R2008), IESNA Standard file format for the electronic
transfer of photometric data and related information, Illuminating Engineering
Society (2002).

Release
Use the Release node to release rays within domains based on arbitrary expressions or
based on the positions of the mesh elements.

RELEASE TIMES

Enter Release times (SI unit: s) or click the Range button ( ) to select and define a
range of specific times. At each release time, rays are released with initial position and
ray direction vector as defined next.

This section is only available when the Allow multiple release times
property is active. This can be found in the Advanced section of the physics
interface settings when Advanced Physics Options are shown in the Model
Builder.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 77

 INITIAL PO SITION
Select an Initial position — Density (the default) or Mesh based.

Density
For Density enter a value for the Number of rays per release N and the Density
proportional to ρ. Both are dimensionless numbers.

The Density proportional to ρ is an expression — the resulting ray distribution

approximately has a density that is proportional to this expression. The resulting
distribution looks a bit random, and it depends on the order in which the mesh
elements are numbered. The distribution is probably not exactly the same in different
COMSOL Multiphysics versions, but the total number of rays released is always N.

The Density proportional to expression must be strictly positive.

Select a Release distribution accuracy order between 1 and 5 (the default is 5), which
determines the integration order that is used when computing the number of rays to
release within each mesh element. The higher the accuracy order, the more accurately
rays will be distributed among the mesh elements.

The Position refinement factor (default 0) must be a nonnegative integer. When the
refinement factor is 0, each ray is always assigned a unique position, but the density is
taken as a uniform value over each mesh element. If the refinement factor is a positive
integer, the distribution of rays within each mesh element is weighted according to the
density, but it is possible for some rays to occupy the same initial position. Further
increasing the Position refinement factor increases the number of evaluation points
within each mesh element to reduce the probability of multiple rays occupying the
same initial position.

Mesh Based
For Mesh based the rays are released from a set of positions determined by a selection
of geometric entities (of arbitrary dimension) in the mesh. Given a Refinement factor
between 1 and 5, the centers of the refined mesh elements are used. Thus, the number
of positions per mesh element is refine^dim, except for pyramids, where it is
2
(4*refine -1)*refine/3.

78 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

R A Y D I R E C T I O N VE C T O R
Select an option from the Ray direction vector list — Expression (the default), Spherical,
Hemispherical, Conical, or Lambertian (3D only).

• For Expression a single ray is released in the specified direction. Enter coordinates
for the Ray direction vector L0 (dimensionless) based on space dimension.
• For Spherical a number of rays are released at each point, sampled from a spherical
distribution in wave vector space. Enter the Number of rays in wave vector space Nw
(dimensionless). The default is 50.
• For Hemispherical a number of rays are released at each point, sampled from a
hemispherical distribution in wave vector space. Enter the Number of rays in wave
vector space Nw (dimensionless). The default is 50. Then enter coordinates for the
Hemisphere axis r based on space dimension.
• For Conical a number of rays are released at each point, sampled from a conical
distribution in wave vector space. Enter the Number of rays in wave vector space Nw
(dimensionless). The default is 50. Then enter coordinates for the Cone axis r based
on space dimension. Then enter the Cone angle α (SI unit: rad). The default is
π/3 radians.
• The Lambertian option is only available in 3D. Anumber of rays are released at each
point, sampled from a hemisphere in wave vector space with probability density
based on the cosine law. Enter the Number of rays in wave vector space Nw
(dimensionless). The default is 50. Then enter coordinates for the Hemisphere axis r
based on space dimension.

If Conical is selected, select an option from the Conical distribution list — Uniform
density (the default), Specify polar and azimuthal distributions, Marginal rays only, or
Marginal and axial rays only.

• For Uniform density rays are released with polar angles from 0 to the specified cone
angle. The rays are distributed in wave vector space so that each ray subtends
approximately the same solid angle.
• For Specify polar and azimuthal distributions specify the Number of polar angles Nφ
(dimensionless) and the Number of azimuthal angles Nθ (dimensionless). Rays are
released at uniformly distributed polar angles from 0 to the specified cone angle. A
single axial ray (φ = 0) is also released. For each value of the polar angle, rays are
released at uniformly distributed azimuthal angles from 0 to 2π. Unlike other
options for specifying the conical distribution, it is not necessary to directly specify
the Number of rays in wave vector space Nw (dimensionless), which is instead derived
from the relation N w = N φ × N θ + 1 .

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 79

 • For Marginal rays only the rays are all released at an angle α with respect to the cone
axis. The rays are released at uniformly distributed azimuthal angles from 0 to 2π.
• For Marginal and axial rays only the rays are all released at an angle α with respect to
the cone axis, except for one ray which is released along the cone axis. The marginal
rays are released at uniformly distributed azimuthal angles from 0 to 2π.

Figure 3-1: Comparison of the four available cone-based release distributions.

For Spherical, Hemispherical, Conical, and Lambertian, select an option from the
Sampling from Distribution list — Deterministic (the default) or Random. If Deterministic
is selected, the initial ray direction vectors are computed using an algorithm that seeks
to distribute the rays as evenly as possible in wave vector space. This algorithm will give
the same initial ray directions whenever the study is run. If Random is selected, the
initial direction of each ray is sampled from a probability distribution in wave vector
space using pseudorandom numbers. The result may be the same when rerunning the
study multiple times on the same computer, but the solution is likely to be different
on different architectures.

INITIAL RAY FREQUENCY

This section is available when the Allow frequency distributions at release features check
box is selected under the physics interface Ray Release and Propagation section.

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Select a Distribution function — None (the default), Normal, Lognormal, Uniform, or List
of values.

When None is selected, enter an initial value ν0. The default value is 4.54 × 1014 Hz.

Select Normal to create a normal distribution function, Lognormal to create a

log-normal distribution function, or Uniform to create a uniform distribution function.
For any of these selections, the Number of values sets the number of points in the
distribution function. Enter a user-defined Mean (default 4.54 × 1014 Hz) and
Standard deviation (default 1014 Hz). Select List of values to enter a list of distinct
frequency values.

INITIAL PHASE
This section is available when the Compute phase check box is selected under the
physics interface Intensity Computation section. Enter an Initial phase Ψ0 (SI unit: rad).
The default value is 0.

INITIAL INTENSITY
This section is available when:

• the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power,
Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media
in the physics interface Intensity Computation section, and
• Expression is selected as the Ray direction vector.

Enter a value for the Initial intensity I0 (SI unit: W/m2). The default is 1000 W/m2.

INITIAL RADII OF CURVATURE

This section is available when:

• the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power,
Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media
in the physics interface Intensity Computation section, and
• Expression is selected as the Ray direction vector.

Select a Wavefront shape. In 3D the available options are Plane wave (the default),
Spherical wave, and Ellipsoid. In 2D the available options are Plane wave (the default)
and Cylindrical wave.

• For an idealized plane wave the radii of curvature would be infinite. However,
because the algorithm used to compute intensity requires finite values, when Plane

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 wave is selected the initial radii of curvature are instead given an initial value that is
108 times greater than the characteristic size of the geometry.
• For a Spherical wave or Cylindrical wave, enter the Initial radius of curvature r0 (SI
unit: m).
• For an Ellipsoid, enter the Initial radius of curvature, 1 r1,0 (SI unit: m) and the Initial
radius of curvature, 2 r2,0 (SI unit: m). Also enter the Initial principal curvature
direction, 1 e1,0 (dimensionless).

Principal Radii of Curvature

INITIAL PO LA RIZATION
This section is available when the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity,
Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity
and power in graded media under the physics interface Intensity Computation section.

Select an Initial polarization type — Unpolarized (the default), Fully polarized, or Partially
polarized.

Select an Initial polarization — Along principal curvature direction (the default) or User
defined.

• For Fully polarized and Partially polarized rays in 3D enter an Initial polarization
parallel to reference direction a1,0 (dimensionless), Initial polarization perpendicular
to reference direction a2,0 (dimensionless), and Initial phase difference δ0
(SI unit: rad).
• For Fully polarized and Partially polarized rays in 2D enter an Initial polarization, in
plane axy,1 (dimensionless), Initial polarization, out of plane az,0 (dimensionless),
and Initial phase difference δ0 (SI unit: rad).
• For User defined also enter an Initial polarization reference direction u
(dimensionless).

For Partially polarized, also enter an Initial degree of polarization P0 (dimensionless).

TO T A L S O U R C E P O W E R
This section is available:

• when the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity or Compute intensity in

graded media under the physics interface Intensity Computation section, and

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• when Spherical, Hemispherical, or Conical is selected as the Ray direction vector.
• It is also available when the Intensity computation is Compute intensity and power or
Compute intensity and power in graded media under the physics interface Intensity
Computation section, and any choice of Ray direction vector displays this section.

Select an option from the Intensity initialization list. By default Uniform distribution is
selected. If any Photometric Data Import nodes have been added to the model then
they can also be selected from the list.

If Uniform distribution is selected, enter a Total source power Psrc (SI unit: W). The
default is 1 W. In 2D, instead enter the Total source power per unit thickness Psrc
(SI unit: W/m). The default is 1 W/m. If any Photometric Data Import feature is
selected from the list, the source power is instead obtained directly from the imported
photometric data (IES) file. Enter values or expressions for the components of the
Photometric horizontal ph (dimensionless) and Photometric zero pz (dimensionless). By
default these vectors point in the positive x- and z-axes, respectively.

The relationship between the photometric horizontal, photometric

vertical, and ray direction vector, and its effect on the initial ray intensity,
is explained in ANSI/IESNA LM-63-02 (R2008), IESNA Standard file
format for the electronic transfer of photometric data and related
information, Illuminating Engineering Society (2002).

Currently the Photometric Data Import feature does not support the
options TILT=INCLUDE or TILT=<FILENAME> that are included in some
IES files. Only TILT=NONE is allowed.

IN IT IA L VA LUE OF AUXILIAR Y DEPEN DENT VARIABLES

This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model.

For each of the Auxiliary Dependent Variable nodes added to the model, select a
Distribution function for the initial value of the auxiliary dependent variables and
whether the initial value of the auxiliary dependent variables should be a scalar value
or sampled from a distribution function.

The number of rays simulated can increase substantially and the following options are
available for each Auxiliary Dependent Variable added to the model.

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 When None is selected, enter an initial value. The symbol for the initial value is the
auxiliary variable name followed by a subscript 0, so for the default name rp the initial
value has symbol rp0.

For the initial value of the auxiliary dependent variables, select Normal to create a
normal distribution function, Lognormal to create a log-normal distribution function,
or Uniform to create a uniform distribution function. For any selection, the Number of
values sets the number of points in the distribution function. Enter a user-defined Mean
(default 0) and Standard deviation (default 1). Select List of values to enter a set of
numerical values directly.

By default auxiliary dependent variables are initialized after all other degrees of
freedom. Select the Initialize before wave vector check box to compute the initial value
of the auxiliary dependent variable immediately after computing the initial wave
vectors of the rays. By selecting this check box it is possible to define the initial ray
direction as a function of the auxiliary dependent variables.

Deposited Ray Power (Domain)

The Deposited Ray Power node is used to compute a heat source based on the
attenuation of rays as they propagate through a domain with a complex refractive
index. This feature is available when the Intensity computation is set to Compute
intensity and power under the physics interface Intensity Computation section. The
Deposited Ray Power node defines a dependent variable with default name
<name>.Qsrc, where <name> is the name of the Geometrical Optics physics interface,
for example gop.Qsrc.

Attenuation Within Domains

Deposited Ray Power (Boundary)

When the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity and power or Compute
intensity and power in graded media in the physics interface Intensity Computation
section, the Deposited Ray Power subnode is available from the context menu
(right-click the Wall, parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes menu. The
Deposited Ray Power subnode computes the total incident energy flux on a surface
based on the power of incident rays.

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SMOOTHING
Select the Compute smoothed accumulated variable check box to enter a Smoothing
radius r (SI unit: m) The smoothing radius functions like the corresponding setting for
the Accumulator (Boundary) node.

Accumulator (Domain)
Use the Accumulator node to define additional degrees of freedom on a domain. Each
Accumulator defines a variable, called the accumulated variable, on each domain
element in the selection list. The values of the accumulated variables are determined
by the properties of rays in each domain element.

ACCUMULATOR SETTINGS
Select an Accumulator type — Density (default) or Count.

• For Density the accumulated variable is divided by the volume of the mesh element
where it is defined.
• For Count the accumulated variable is unaffected by the element size.

Select an option from the Accumulate over list — Elements (the default) or Elements and
time.

• For Elements the value of the accumulated variable in an element is the sum of the
source terms of all rays in that element. If the Accumulator type is set to Density, this
sum is divided by the mesh element volume.
• For Elements and time the time derivative of the accumulated variable in an element
is the sum of the source terms of all rays in that element. If the Accumulator type is
set to Density, this sum is divided by the mesh element volume. As each ray
propagates through a series of mesh elements, it leaves behind a contribution to the
accumulated variable that remains even after the ray has moved on.

Enter the Accumulated variable name. The default is rpd. The accumulated variable is
defined as <name>.<varname>, where <name> is the physics interface name and
<varname> is the accumulated variable name. For example, in an instance of the
Geometrical Optics interface with default name gopand default accumulated variable
name rpd, the variable would be named gop.rpd.

Enter a Source R. The unit of the source depends on the settings in the Units section.
The source term is used to calculate the accumulated variable in a manner specified by
the Accumulate over and Accumulator type settings.

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 If Elements and time is selected from the Accumulate over list, select an option from the
Source interpolation list: Constant, Linear (the default), Quadratic, or Exponential. The
Source interpolation determines what functional form the Source is assumed to follow
during each time step taken by the solver. This information is used to compute the
accumulated variable in mesh elements that the rays pass through during each time
step.

UNITS
Select a Dependent variable quantity from the list; the default is Dimensionless [1]. To
enter a unit, select None from the list and in the Unit field enter a value, for example, K,
m/s, or mol/m^3.

Nonlocal Accumulator
Use the Nonlocal Accumulator subnode to communicate information from a ray’s
current position to the position from which it was released.

The subnode is available from the context menu (right-click the Inlet parent node) or
from the Physics toolbar, Attributes menu.

Each Nonlocal accumulator subnode defines a variable, called the accumulated variable,
that is computed using variables defined on rays released by the parent Inlet node or
on domains and boundaries encountered by such rays.

ACCUMULATOR SETTINGS
Select an Accumulator type — Density (default) or Count.

• For Density the accumulated variable is divided by the volume of the mesh element
where it is defined.
• For Count the accumulated variable is unaffected by the element size.

Select an option from the Accumulate over list: Elements (default) or Elements and
time.

• For Elements the accumulated variable is proportional to the instantaneous value of

the Source term R for all applicable rays.
• For Elements and time the time derivative of the accumulated variable is proportional
to the instantaneous value of the Source term R for all applicable rays, and thus the
accumulated variable considers the time history of rays in the modeling domain
instead of just their current values.

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Enter the Accumulated variable name. The default is rpi.

Enter a Source R. The unit of the source depends on the settings in the Units section.
The source term is used to calculate the accumulated variable in a manner specified by
the Accumulate over and Accumulator type settings.

Select a Source geometric entity level — Domains, Boundaries, or Domains and

boundaries.

• If Domains is selected, rays only contribute to the accumulated variable on their

releasing surface if they are still active; that is, they are still propagating through a
domain.
• If Boundaries is selected, the rays only contribute to the accumulated variable if they
have become stuck or frozen to a boundary somewhere in the model.
• If Domains and boundaries is selected, all of the active, stuck, and frozen rays released
by a feature can contribute to the accumulated variable.

UNITS
Select a Dependent variable quantity from the list; the default is Dimensionless [1]. To
enter a unit, select None from the list and in the Unit field enter a value, for example, K,
m/s, or mol/m^3.

SMOOTHING
Select the Compute smoothed accumulated variable check box to enter a Smoothing
radius r (SI unit: m). The default is 0.1 m.

Inlet
Use the Inlet node to determine how to release rays on an interior or exterior boundary
in a specific direction.

The Nonlocal Accumulator subnode is available from the context menu (right-click
the parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes menu.

See Release for information on the following sections: Release Times, Initial Ray
Frequency, Initial Phase, Initial Intensity, Total Source Power, Initial Polarization, and
Initial Value of Auxiliary Dependent Variables.

COORDINATE SYSTEM SELECTION

It is possible to specify the initial ray direction in terms of the global coordinates or in
another coordinate system defined for the model Component. Select an option from

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 the Coordinate system list. By default Global coordinate system is selected. If other
coordinate systems are defined, they can also be selected from the list. When specifying
the initial ray direction (see the Ray Direction Vector section), direction components can
be specified using the basis vectors of whichever coordinate system has been selected
from the list.

When a coordinate system other than Global coordinate system is selected from the
Coordinate system list, arrows will appear in the Graphics window to indicate the
orientation of the basis vectors of the coordinate system on the selected boundaries.

INITIAL PO SITION
Select an Initial position — Uniform distribution (the default for 2D components)
Projected plane grid (the default for 3D components), Mesh based, or Density. Mesh
based and Density have the same settings as described for the Release node.

For 2D components, if Uniform distribution is selected, enter the Number

of rays per release N (dimensionless). The union of the selected
boundaries is divided into N segments of approximately equal length, and
a ray is placed in the middle of each segment.

For 3D components, if Projected plane grid is selected, enter the Number

of rays per release N (dimensionless). The rays are distributed on a plane
grid in planes that are approximately tangential to the selected boundaries
(for a plane boundary, you get a uniform distribution).

R A Y D I R E C T I O N VE C T O R
Select an option from the Ray direction vector list — Expression (the default),
Hemispherical, Conical, or Lambertian (3D only).

• For Expression a single ray is released in the specified direction. Enter coordinates
for the Ray direction vector L0 (dimensionless) based on space dimension. Select the
Specify tangential and normal vector components check box to specify the initial
direction using a coordinate system based on the directions tangential and normal
to the surface (t1, t2, n).
• For Hemispherical a number of rays are released at each point, sampled from a
hemispherical distribution in wave vector space. Enter the Number of rays in wave
vector space Nw (dimensionless). The default is 50. Then enter coordinates for the
Hemisphere axis r based on space dimension. Select the Specify tangential and normal

88 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 vector components check box to specify the hemisphere axis using a coordinate
system based on the directions tangential and normal to the surface (t1, t2, n).
• For Conical a number of rays are released at each point, sampled from a conical
distribution in wave vector space. Enter the Number of rays in wave vector space Nw
(dimensionless). The default is 50. Then enter coordinates for the Cone axis r based
on space dimension. Then enter the Cone angle α (SI unit: rad). The default is
π/3 radians. Select the Specify tangential and normal vector components check box
to specify the cone axis using a coordinate system based on the directions tangential
and normal to the surface (t1, t2, n).
• The Lambertian option is only available in 3D. A number of rays are released at each
point, sampled from a hemisphere in wave vector space with probability density
based on the cosine law. Enter the Number of rays in wave vector space Nw
(dimensionless). The default is 50. Then enter coordinates for the Hemisphere axis r
based on space dimension. Select the Specify tangential and normal vector
components check box to specify the hemisphere axis using a coordinate system
based on the directions tangential and normal to the surface (t1, t2, n)

When the Specify tangential and normal vector components check box is
selected, arrows indicating the normal direction on the selected
boundaries will appear in the Graphics window.

Note that the normal direction may be opposite the built-in variable for
the boundary normal (e.g.nx, ny, nz) to ensure that a positive value
causes rays to be released into the simulation domain. This often occurs
when the Inlet is applied to exterior boundaries.

When the normal direction used by the Inlet feature is opposite the
normal vector defined by the geometry, the tangential directions are
similarly inverted to ensure that the boundary coordinate system is
right-handed.

If Conical is selected, select an option from the Conical distribution list — Uniform
density (the default), Specify polar and azimuthal distributions, Marginal rays only, or
Marginal and axial rays only.

• For Uniform density rays are released with polar angles from 0 to the specified cone
angle. The rays are distributed in wave vector space so that each ray subtends
approximately the same solid angle.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 89

 • For Specify polar and azimuthal distributions specify the Number of polar angles Nφ
(dimensionless) and the Number of azimuthal angles Nθ (dimensionless). Rays are
released at uniformly distributed polar angles from 0 to the specified cone angle. A
single axial ray (φ=0) is also released. For each value of the polar angle, rays are
released at uniformly distributed azimuthal angles from 0 to 2π. Unlike other
options for specifying the conical distribution, it is not necessary to directly specify
the Number of rays in wave vector space Nw (dimensionless), which is instead derived
from the relation N w = N φ × N θ + 1 .
• For Marginal rays only the rays are all released at an angle α with respect to the cone
axis. The rays are released at uniformly distributed azimuthal angles from 0 to 2π.
• For Marginal and axial rays only the rays are all released at an angle α with respect to
the cone axis, except for one ray which is released along the cone axis. The marginal
rays are released at uniformly distributed azimuthal angles from 0 to 2π.

The four Conical distribution options are illustrated in Figure 3-1.

For Hemispherical, Conical, and Lambertian, select an option from the Sampling from
Distribution list — Deterministic (the default) or Random. If Deterministic is selected, the
initial ray direction vectors are computed using the same algorithm, which seeks to
distribute the rays as evenly as possible in wave vector space, whenever the study is run.
If Random is selected, the initial direction of each ray is sampled from a probability
distribution in wave vector space using pseudo-random numbers.

INITIAL RADII OF CURVATURE

This section is available when:

• the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power,
Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media
in the physics interface Intensity Computation section, and
• when Expression is selected as the Ray direction vector.

90 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

Select a Wavefront shape. In 3D the available options are From surface curvature (the
default), Plane wave, Spherical wave, and Ellipsoid. In 2D the available options are Plane
wave (the default) and Cylindrical wave.

• For a Spherical wave or Cylindrical wave, enter the Initial radius of curvature r0 (SI
unit: m).
• For an Ellipsoid, enter the Initial radius of curvature, 1 r1,0 (SI unit: m) and the Initial
radius of curvature, 2 r2,0 (SI unit: m). Also enter the Initial principal curvature
direction, 1 e1,0 (dimensionless).

Principal Radii of Curvature

Inlet on Axis
Use the Inlet on Axis node to release rays from specified edges along the axis of
symmetry in a 2D axisymmetric geometry. It functions like the Inlet node, except that
it can only be applied to the axis of symmetry and that the options in the Ray Direction
Vector section are slightly different.

See Release for information on the following sections: Release Times, Initial Ray
Frequency, Initial Phase, Initial Intensity, Initial Radii of Curvature, Total Source Power,
Initial Polarization, and Initial Value of Auxiliary Dependent Variables.

INITIAL POSITION
Select an Initial position — Uniform distribution (the default), Mesh based, or Density.
Mesh based and Density have the same settings as described for the Release node.

If Uniform distribution is selected, enter the Number of rays per release N

(dimensionless). The default is 100. The union of the selected boundaries is divided
into N segments of approximately equal length, and a ray is placed in the middle of
each segment.

R A Y D I R E C T I O N VE C T O R
Select an option from the Ray direction vector list — Expression (the default), Spherical,
or Conical.

• For Expression a single ray is released in the specified direction. Enter the radial and
axial components of the Ray direction vector L0 (dimensionless).

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 91

 • For Spherical a number of rays are released at each point, from the negative
z-direction to the positive z-direction in the half-plane with r > 0. These rays are
sampled from an anisotropic hemispherical distribution in wave vector space, so that
rays are more heavily weighted toward the r-direction rather than the ±z-directions.
In 3D this would correspond to a spherical distribution of rays such that each ray
subtends approximately the same solid angle in wave vector space.

Figure 3-2: The Spherical release of rays causes rays to be weighted more heavily at greater
angles from the axis of symmetry.

Enter the Number of rays in wave vector space Nw (dimensionless). The default is 50.
Then enter coordinates for the Hemisphere axis r based on space dimension. Select
the Specify tangential and normal vector components check box to specify the
hemisphere axis using a coordinate system based on the directions tangential and
normal to the surface (t1, t2, n).
• For Conical a number of rays are released at each point, sampled from a conical
distribution in wave vector space. Enter the Number of rays in wave vector space Nw

92 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 (dimensionless). The default is 50. Then enter coordinates for the Cone axis r based
on space dimension. Then enter the Cone angle α (SI unit: rad). The default is
π/3 radians. Unlike the Spherical distribution, the rays in the Conical distribution
each subtend the same angle in 2D, not the same solid angle in 3D.

For Hemispherical and Conical, select an option from the Sampling from Distribution list
— Deterministic (the default) or Random. If Deterministic is selected, the initial ray
direction vectors are computed using the same algorithm, which seeks to distribute the
rays as evenly as possible in wave vector space, whenever the study is run. If Random is
selected, the initial direction of each ray is sampled from a probability distribution in
wave vector space using pseudo-random numbers.

Illuminated Surface
Use the Illuminated Surface node to release rays under the assumption that the emitted
rays are specularly reflected from an external radiation source. It is assumed that the
entire selected surface has direct line of sight to the external radiation source; that is,
shadowing due to other geometric entities is not taken into account.

See Release for information on the following sections: Release Times, Initial Ray
Frequency, Initial Phase, Initial Polarization, and Initial Value of Auxiliary Dependent
Variables.

See Inlet for information on the following sections: Initial Position.

R A Y D I R E C T I O N VE C T O R
Select the Rays to release — Reflected (the default) or Refracted.

• For Reflected select the Reflection coefficient specification — Using absorption

coefficient (the default) or Using refractive indices.
• For Refracted enter a value for Refractive index of exterior domains next
(dimensionless). The default is 1.

Select an Incident ray direction vector — User-defined direction (the default),

User-defined point source, or Solar radiation (3D components only).

Then based on the selection enter the applicable information:

• For User-defined direction enter the components of the Incident ray direction vector
Li (dimensionless) based on space dimension.
• For User-defined point source enter the Point source location rsrc (SI unit: m).
• For Solar radiation see Solar Radiation for information about the options.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 93

 ANGULAR PER TURBATIONS
If User-defined direction or Solar radiation is selected from the Incident ray direction
vector list, select an option from the Corrections for finite source diameter list — None
(the default), Create light cones at release points, or Sample from conical distribution.

• For None no perturbation to the initial ray direction is applied.

• For Create light cones at release points a cone-shaped distribution of rays is released
at each point. Enter a value for the Number of rays in wave vector space
(dimensionless) Nw (dimensionless). The default is 50. A cone-shaped distribution
containing Nw rays is released at each point, which may cause a very large number
of rays to be released.
• For Sample from conical distribution a single ray is released at each release point. This
ray is given a random perturbation with uniform probability density within a
cone-shaped distribution in wave vector space.

For Create light cones at release points and Sample from conical distribution, specify the
Maximum disc angle Ψm (SI unit: rad). The default is 4.65 mrad.

For Create light cones at release points and Sample from conical distribution, select a Limb
darkening model — None (the default), Empirical power law, Linear, or User defined. The
limb darkening model is typically used to reduce the intensity of solar radiation that is
released from the periphery of the solar disk, relative to radiation that is released near
the center. For Linear enter a Limb darkening coefficient β (dimensionless). The default
value is 0.8. For User defined enter a Limb darkening coefficient fL (dimensionless). The
default value is 1.

Select the Include surface roughness check box to include an additional perturbation
term based on uncertainty in the orientation of the surface normal, which is common
in imperfect reflecting surfaces. Enter a value or expression for the Surface slope error
σφ (SI unit: rad). The default is 1 mrad. The surface normal is then perturbed by a
random angle, which is sampled from a Rayleigh distribution.

INCIDENT RAY INTENSITY

This section is available when the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity,
Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity
and power in graded media in the physics interface Intensity Computation section. Enter
a value for the Incident ray intensity Ii (SI unit: W/m2). The default is 1000 W/m2.

94 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

TO T A L S O U R C E P OW E R
This section is available:

• when the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity or Compute intensity in

graded media under the physics interface Intensity Computation section, and
• when Spherical, Hemispherical, or Conical is selected as the Ray direction vector.
• It is also available when the Intensity computation is Compute intensity and power or
Compute intensity and power in graded media under the physics interface Intensity
Computation section, and any choice of Ray direction vector displays this section.

Enter a Total source power Psrc (SI unit: W). The default is 1 W. In 2D, instead enter
the Total source power per unit thickness Psrc (SI unit: W/m). The default is 1 W/m.

Illuminated Surface Theory

Grating
Use the Grating node to create reflected and refracted rays at a boundary. By adding
Diffraction Order subnodes, it is possible to release secondary rays of nonzero
diffraction order. It is available on interior and exterior boundaries. Accumulator
(Boundary) and Diffraction Order subnodes are available from the context menu
(right-click the parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes menu. Each
Diffraction Order subnode added releases a transmitted and reflected ray of the specified
diffraction order. If no Diffraction Order subnodes are present, only the reflected and
refracted rays of order 0 are released.

The reflected ray of order 0 and all rays of higher diffraction orders are
considered secondary rays. When modeling the propagation of a large
number of rays through a grating, it may be necessary to increase the
Maximum number of secondary rays under the physics interface Ray Release
and Propagation section.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 95

 DEVICE PROPER TIES
Enter a Grating constant d (SI unit: m). The default is 600 nm.

For 3D components, select a Grating orientation specification — User

defined (the default) or Parallel to reference edge. If Parallel to reference
edge is selected, the Reference Edge Selection section is shown. Add an edge
to this selection to specify the orientation of the grating. Only a single
edge may be selected. The edge must be adjacent to one of the selected
boundaries for the feature. If User defined is selected, enter the
components of the Grating orientation direction T (dimensionless) directly.

The following settings are available when Intensity computation is set to Compute
intensity, Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute
intensity and power in graded media in the physics interface Intensity Computation
section:

• Enter the Reflectance R and the Transmittance T (both dimensionless).

• Select the Store total transmitted power and Store total reflected power check boxes
to declare auxiliary dependent variables for the total power of all transmitted and
reflected diffraction orders, respectively.

AUXIL IA R Y D EP E NDE N T VAR IA BL E S, REFRA C TED RAY

This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model. The settings are the same as for the Material Discontinuity feature.

AUXILIAR Y D EPENDENT VARIABLES, REFLECTED RAY

This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model. The settings are the same as for the Material Discontinuity feature.

Grating Theory

Diffraction Order
Add the Diffraction Order subnode to the Grating feature. Each Diffraction Order
subnode added releases a transmitted and reflected ray of the specified diffraction
order. If no subnodes are present, only the reflected and refracted rays of order 0 are
released.

96 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

DEVICE PROPERTIES
Enter a Diffraction order m (dimensionless). The default is 1.

When Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power,
Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media in
the physics interface Intensity Computation section, enter the Reflectance R and the
Transmittance T (both dimensionless). If the reflectance or transmittance of a certain
diffraction order is exactly zero, that diffraction order will not be released.

AUXILIAR Y DEPEN DENT VARIABLES, REFR ACT ED R AY

This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model. The settings are the same as for the Material Discontinuity feature.

AUXILIAR Y DEPEN DENT VARIABLES, REFL ECTED RAY

This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model. The settings are the same as for the Material Discontinuity feature.

Linear Polarizer
Use the Linear Polarizer node to define a linear polarizer on a boundary selection. Add
this node from the Optical Devices submenu when Intensity computation is set to
Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded media, or
Compute intensity and power in graded media in the physics interface Intensity
Computation section. The Accumulator (Boundary) subnode is available from the
context menu (right-click the parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes
menu.

DEVICE PROPERTIES
Select a Transmission axis specification:

• User defined (the default). Then enter coordinates for the Transmission axis T
(dimensionless).
• Parallel to reference edge (for 3D components). The Reference Edge Selection section
is then shown. Add an edge to this selection to specify the transmission axis
orientation. Only a single edge may be selected. The edge must be adjacent to a
boundary in the physics feature selection.
• In-plane or Out-of-plane (for 2D and 2D axisymmetric components)

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 97

 N EW VA L U E O F A U X I L I A R Y D E P E N D E N T VA R I A BL E S
This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model. The settings are the same as for the Wall feature.

Linear Polarizer Theory

Ideal Depolarizer
Use the Ideal Depolarizer node to reinitialize the Stokes parameters so that the
outgoing ray is completely unpolarized. Add this node from the Optical Devices
submenu when Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and
power, Compute intensity in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded
media in the physics interface Intensity Computation section. The Accumulator
(Boundary) subnode is available from the context menu (right-click the parent node)
or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes menu.

N EW VA L U E O F A U X I L I A R Y D E P E N D E N T VA R I A BL E S
This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model.

Ideal Depolarizer Theory

Linear Wave Retarder

Use the Linear Wave Retarder node to define a linear wave retarder on a boundary
selection. Add this node from the Optical Devices submenu when Intensity computation
is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded
media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media in the physics interface Intensity
Computation section. The Accumulator (Boundary) subnode is available from the
context menu (right-click the parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes
menu.

98 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

DEVICE PROPERTIES
Select a Fast axis specification:

• User defined (the default). Then enter coordinates for the Fast axis F
(dimensionless).
• Parallel to reference edge (for 3D components). The Reference Edge Selection section
is then shown. Add an edge to this selection to specify the fast axis orientation. Only
a single edge may be selected. The edge must be adjacent to a boundary in the
physics feature selection.
• In-plane or Out-of-plane (for 2D and 2D axisymmetric components)

For any selection, enter a value for the Retardance δ (SI unit: rad).

N EW VA L U E O F A U X I L I A R Y D E P E N D E N T VA R I A BL E S
This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model. The settings are the same as for the Wall feature.

Linear Wave Retarder Theory

Circular Wave Retarder

Use the Circular Wave Retarder node to define a circular wave retarder on a boundary
selection. Add this node from the Optical Devices submenu when Intensity computation
is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity in graded
media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media in the physics interface Intensity
Computation section. The Accumulator (Boundary) subnode is available from the
context menu (right-click the parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes
menu.

DEVICE PROPERTIES
Enter a value for the Retardance δ (SI unit: rad).

By default the Sense of rotation depends on ray trajectory check box is not selected. This
means a positive value of the retardance always corresponds to clockwise rotation of
the polarization ellipse. Select the check box then a positive value of the retardance
corresponds to clockwise rotation of the polarization ellipse only when the ray crosses
the boundary in the direction indicated by the normal vector in the Graphics window.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 99

 The Reverse sense of rotation check box is available when the Sense of rotation depends
on ray trajectory check box is selected. Click to select this check box to reverse the
direction of the normal vector shown in the Graphics window.

N EW VA L U E O F A U X I L I A R Y D E P E N D E N T VA R I A BL E S
This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model. The settings are the same as for the Wall feature.

Circular Wave Retarder Theory

Mueller Matrix
Use the Mueller Matrix node to define Mueller matrices for customized optical
components. Add this node from the Optical Devices submenu when Intensity
computation is set to Compute intensity, Compute intensity and power, Compute intensity
in graded media, or Compute intensity and power in graded media in the physics interface
Intensity Computation section. The Accumulator (Boundary) subnode is available from
the context menu (right-click the parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes
menu.

DEVICE PROPER TIES

Select a Reference axis specification:

• User defined (the default). Then enter coordinates for the Reference axis R
(dimensionless).
• Parallel to reference edge (for 3D components). The Reference Edge Selection section
is then shown. Add an edge to this selection to specify the reference direction
orientation. Only a single edge may be selected. The edge must be adjacent to a
boundary in the physics feature selection.
• In-plane or Out-of-plane (for 2D and 2D axisymmetric components).

For any choice, select Isotropic (the default), Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic from
the list and then enter a value or expression for the Mueller matrix M in the matrix or
field.

100 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

N EW VA L U E O F A U X I L I A R Y D E P E N D E N T VA R I A BL E S
This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model. The settings are the same as for the Wall feature.

Theory of Mueller Matrices and Optical Components

Auxiliary Dependent Variable

Use the Auxiliary Dependent Variable node to solve additional first-order ordinary
differential equations for each ray released.

AUXILIAR Y DEPEN DENT VARIABLE

Enter a Field variable name. The default is rp and can be changed to anything provided
it does not conflict with the name of the variables for the position or momentum
degrees of freedom. The name should not conflict with other auxiliary dependent
variables.

Enter a Source R. The unit of the source depends on the unit of the auxiliary dependent
variable and the option selected from the Integrate list described below.

Select a way to Integrate the equation you have defined — With respect to time or Along
ray trajectory. If you are interested in the residence time of a group of rays in a given
system then you can set the Source to 1 and set Integrate to With respect to time. To
compute the length of the ray trajectory you can set the Source to 1 and set Integrate
to Along ray trajectories.

UNITS
These settings are the same as for Accumulator (Domain).

Release from Edge

Use the Release from Edge node to release rays from positions along a set of edges in a
3D geometry.

See Release for information on the following sections: Release Times, Ray Direction
Vector, Initial Ray Frequency, Initial Phase, Initial Intensity, Initial Radii of Curvature, Total
Source Power, Initial Polarization, and Initial Value of Auxiliary Dependent Variables.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 101

 INITIAL PO SITION
Select an Initial position — Mesh based (the default), Uniform distribution, or Density.
Mesh based and Density have the same settings as described for the Release node. If
Uniform distribution is selected, enter the Number of rays per release N (dimensionless).
The union of the selected edges is divided into N segments of approximately equal
length, and a ray is released from the middle of each segment.

Release from Point

Use the Release from Point node to release rays from a set of points in a geometry. By
default one ray is released at every selected point, although it is possible to release
multiple rays at each point if the initial direction or an auxiliary dependent variable is
sampled from a distribution.

See Release for information on the following sections: Release Times, Ray Direction
Vector, Initial Ray Frequency, Initial Phase, Initial Intensity, Initial Radii of Curvature, Total
Source Power, Initial Polarization, and Initial Value of Auxiliary Dependent Variables.

Release from Point on Axis

The Release from Point on Axis feature is similar to the Release from Point feature,
except that it can only release rays from points along the axis of symmetry in a 2D
axisymmetric geometry.

See Inlet for information on the following sections: Ray Direction Vector.

For all other sections, see Release from Point.

Release from Grid

Use the Release from Grid node to release rays from a user-defined grid of points.

See Release for information on the following sections: Release Times, Ray Direction
Vector, Initial Ray Frequency, Initial Phase, Initial Intensity, Initial Radii of Curvature, Total
Source Power, Initial Polarization, and Initial Value of Auxiliary Dependent Variables.

INITIAL COORDINATES
Enter Initial coordinates based on space dimension (qx,0, qy,0, and qz,0 for 3D
components) for the ray positions or click the Range button ( ) to select and define
a range of specific coordinates.

102 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

Select an option from the Grid type list: All combinations (the default) or Specified
combinations. If Specified combinations is selected, the number of initial coordinates
entered for each space dimension must be equal, and the total number of rays released
is equal to the length of one of the lists of initial coordinates. If All combinations is
selected, the total number of rays released is equal to the product of the lengths of each
list of initial coordinates.

For example, suppose a 2D component includes a Release from Grid node with the
following initial coordinates:

• qx,0 = range(0,1,3)
• qy,0 = range(2,2,8)

If All combinations is selected, a total of 16 rays will be released, including every possible
combination of the initial x- and y-coordinates. If Specified combinations is selected, 4
rays will be released with initial positions (0,2), (1,4), (2,6), and (3,8).

Release from Grid on Axis

The Release from Grid on Axis feature is similar to the Release from Grid feature, except
that it can only release rays from a grid of points along the axis of symmetry in a 2D
axisymmetric geometry; that is, qr,0 = 0 for all released rays.

See Inlet for information on the following sections: Ray Direction Vector.

For all other sections, see Release from Grid.

Release from Data File

Use a Release from Data File node to specify the initial ray position, direction, and values
of auxiliary dependent variables using data from a text file.

See Release for information on the following sections: Release Times, Initial Ray
Frequency, Initial Phase, Initial Intensity, Initial Radii of Curvature, Total Source Power,
and Initial Polarization.

Formatting Guidelines for Files Containing Ray Data

The imported data file should be a text file (*.txt) arranged in a spreadsheet format;
that is, each row corresponds to a distinct ray and should have the same number of
columns as all other rows. Columns can be separated by spaces, tabs, or a combination
of the two. Begin a line with the percent (“%”) character to include comments or
empty lines in the data file.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 103

 For example, a data file containing the following text would release rays at the positions
(0.1, 0.2, 0.6) and (0.2, 0.4, 0.8) in a three-dimensional geometry:

% Ray release positions

% qx0 qy0 qz0
0.1 0.2 0.6
0.2 0.4 0.8

INITIAL PO SITION
Browse your computer to select a text file, then click Import to import the data. To
remove the imported data, click Discard. Enter the Index of first column containing
position data i to indicate which column represents the first coordinate of the ray
position vectors. The default value, 0, indicates the first column.

R A Y D I R E C T I O N VE C T O R
Select an option from the Ray direction vector list — Expression (the default), From file,
Spherical, Hemispherical, Conical, or Lambertian (3D only).

• For From file, enter the Index of first column containing velocity data i. The default is
3. The columns are zero-indexed; that is, an index of 0 corresponds to the first
column.
• For all other settings, the settings are the same as for the Release node.

I NI TI AL VAL UE O F AUX I L IA R Y D EP E ND EN T VAR IA BL E S

This section is available if an Auxiliary Dependent Variable has been added to the
model.

For each of the active Auxiliary Dependent Variable nodes in the model, choose an
option from the Distribution function list: From file, None (the default), Normal,
Lognormal, Uniform, or List of Values.

• When From file is selected, enter the Index of column containing data. The default
value is 3. The columns are zero-indexed; that is, an index of 0 corresponds to the
first column.
For all other options, the settings are the same as for the Release node.

Ray Continuity
Use the Ray Continuity node to specify that rays should cross a pair boundary as if it
were invisible. Pair boundaries appear when the geometry sequence ends in Form

104 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

Assembly instead of Form Union. Such boundaries require special handling because the
mesh elements on either side of the pair boundary aren’t required to match up exactly.

PAIR SELECTION
Select one or more identity pairs to allow rays to cross between the source and
destination boundaries of these pairs. Such identity pairs are typically created
automatically on interior boundaries when the geometry sequence ends in a Form
Assembly node instead of a Form Union node.

The Ray Continuity node does not cause the ray position components to
change discontinuously; the source and destination boundaries for the
identity pairs must be overlapping.

If the geometry sequence ends in a Form Union node, the Ray Continuity
node usually isn’t necessary because rays can freely cross interior
boundaries where no boundary condition has been applied.

Solar Radiation
The Solar Radiation node uses the solar position to specify the initial direction vector
of rays. The node is selected from the Physics toolbar, Global menu.

See Release for information on the following sections: Release Times, Initial Ray
Frequency, Initial Phase, and Initial Value of Auxiliary Dependent Variables.

INITIAL COORDINATES
These settings are the same as for the Release from Grid node.

North, West, and the up directions correspond to the x, y, and z

directions, respectively.

SOURCE
Select an option from the Location defined by list — Coordinates (the default) or City.

For City select a predefined city and country combination from the list. Click to select
the Include daylight saving time (Time zone + 1) check box to add one hour to the
default setting for the city selected. For example, if New York City, USA is selected and
the default standard time zone is UTC -5 hours. If the check box is selected, the
daylight savings time is used instead (UTC -4 hours).

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 105

 If Coordinates is selected, or your city is not listed, in the Location table define the:

• Latitude, a decimal value, positive in the northern hemisphere (the default is

Greenwich UK latitude, 51.479). Enter a value without a unit to avoid double
conversion. This is because the latitude value is expected to represent degrees but
the model’s unit for angles may be different (for example, the SI unit for the angle
is radians).
• Longitude, a decimal value, positive at the East of the Prime Meridian (the default is
Greenwich UK longitude, −0.01064). Enter a value without a unit to avoid double
conversion. This is because the latitude value is expected to represent degrees but
the model’s unit for angles may be different (for example, the SI unit for the angle
is radians).
• Time zone, the number of hours to add to UTC to get local time (the default is
Greenwich UK time zone, 0). For example in New York City, USA the time zone is
UTC -5 hours (standard time zone) or UTC -4 hours (with daylight savings time).

For either selection, in the Date table enter the:

• Day, the default is 01. Enter a value without a unit to avoid double conversion. This
is because the value is expected to represent days but the model’s unit for time may
be different (for example, the SI unit for time is second).
• Month, the default is 6 (June). Enter a value without a unit to avoid double
conversion. This is because the value is expected to represent months but the
model’s unit for time may be different (for example, the SI unit for time is second).
• Year, the default is 2012. Enter a value without a unit to avoid double conversion.
This is because the value is expected to represent years but the model’s unit for time
may be different (for example, the SI unit for time is second). The solar position is
accurate for a date between 2000 and 2199.

For either selection, in the Local time table enter the:

• Hour, the default is 12. Enter a value without a unit to avoid double conversion. This
is because the value is expected to represent hours but the model’s unit for time may
be different (for example, the SI unit for time is second).

106 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

• Minute, the default is 0. Enter a value without a unit to avoid double conversion.
This is because the value is expected to represent minutes but the model’s unit for
time may be different (for example, the SI unit for time is second).
• Second, the default is 0.

The sun position is updated if the location, date, or local time changes
during a simulation. Because the time scale of ray propagation is typically
many orders of magnitude smaller than the time scale for significant
changes in solar position, modeling ray propagation at different times of
day typically requires a Parametric Sweep over the larger time scale. Note
that no validity range is prescribed on the time inputs. It is possible to
enter values that exceed the expected boundary. For example, entering 5h
2min 81s is equivalent to 5h 3min 21s. This makes it easier, for example,
to run a Parametric Sweep over the time of day using only a single
parameter.

For either selection, in the Solar irradiance field Is (SI unit: W/m2) define the incident
radiative intensity coming from the sun.

AN GUL AR PER T UR BAT IO N S

Select an option from the Corrections for finite source diameter list — None (the
default), Create light cones at release points, or Sample from conical distribution.

• For None no perturbation to the initial ray direction is applied.

• For Create light cones at release points a cone-shaped distribution of rays is released
at each point. Enter a value for the Number of rays in wave vector space
(dimensionless) Nw (dimensionless). The default is 50. A cone-shaped distribution
containing Nw rays is released at each point, which may cause a very large number
of rays to be released.
• For Sample from conical distribution a single ray is released at each release point. This
ray is given a random perturbation with uniform probability density within a
cone-shaped distribution in wave vector space.

For Create light cones at release points and Sample from conical distribution, specify the
Maximum disc angle Ψm (SI unit: rad). The default is 4.65 mrad.

For Create light cones at release points and Sample from conical distribution, select a Limb
darkening model — None (the default), Empirical power law, Linear, or User defined. The
limb darkening model is typically used to reduce the intensity of solar radiation that is

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 107

 released from the periphery of the solar disk, relative to radiation that is released near
the center. For Linear enter a Limb darkening coefficient β (dimensionless). The default
value is 0.8. For User defined enter a Limb darkening coefficient fL (dimensionless). The
default value is 1.

The options for accounting for finite source diameter and solar limb
darkening are discussed in the Illuminated Surface Theory section.

Ray Termination
Use the Ray Termination feature to remove rays from the model as they exit the
geometry, or to annihilate rays of sufficiently low intensity or power.

The Ray Termination feature can terminate rays at the exact time at which
their intensity or power reaches the specified threshold, if there exists a
closed-form analytic expression for this time. Such a closed-form analytic
solution exists if:

• The rays represent planar wavefronts in an absorbing medium, or

• The rays represent spherical or ellipsoidal wavefronts in a
non-absorbing medium.

Otherwise, the rays are stopped at the first time step for which the
intensity or power is less than the threshold value.

TE R M I N A T I O N C R I T E R I A
If Compute intensity or Compute intensity in graded media is selected from the Intensity
computation list in the physics interface Intensity Computation section, enter the
Threshold intensity Ith (SI unit: W/m2). The default is 1e-3[W/m^2]. Rays with
intensity lower than the threshold will be annihilated.

If Compute intensity and power or Compute intensity and power in graded media is
selected from the Intensity computation list, it is possible to terminate rays based on the
ray intensity or power, which are stored as separate degrees of freedom for each ray.

108 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

Selection an option from the Termination Criteria list: Intensity (the default), Power, or
Intensity and power. Based on this selection, enter the following:

• For Intensity or Intensity and power, enter the Threshold intensity Ith
(SI unit: W/m2). The default is 1e-3[W/m^2].
• For Power or Intensity and power, enter the Threshold power Qth (SI unit: W). The
default is 1e-3[W].

Regardless of whether the ray intensity is computed, select an option from the Spatial
extents of ray propagation list: Bounding box, from geometry (the default), Bounding box,
user defined, or None. This list controls whether rays are terminated based on their
positions.

• For Bounding box, from geometry, a ray is immediately terminated if it reaches the
surface of the bounding box of the geometry, defined as the smallest rectangle or
rectangular prism with edges parallel to the axes of the global coordinate system that
contains all of the geometric entities. This bounding box is extended by 5% in each
direction so that rays can still interact with boundaries that coincide with the
perimeter of the bounding box. Therefore rays can propagate a short distance away
from the geometry before disappearing.
• For Bounding box, user defined, a ray is immediately terminated if it reaches the
surface of a box of user-specified dimensions. To define the box, enter maximum
and minimum values of each coordinate.
• For None, the rays that propagate outward from the geometry will continue to
propagate until the study is complete. If the maximum path length for the
Ray Tracing study step is too large, this may result in trajectories that are extremely
long relative to the characteristic geometry size.

Ray Termination Theory

Ray Detector
Use the Ray Detector feature to compute information about rays that are located in a
set of selected domains or on a set of selected boundaries. The detector may detect all
rays or only the rays released by a specified release feature. Computed variables are the
number of rays transmitted, the transmission probability, and a logical expression
which can be used to filter the rendered rays during results processing.

THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 109

 The Ray Detector feature is also capable of computing the total transmitted ray power.
If Compute intensity and power or Compute intensity and power in graded media is
selected from the Intensity computation list in the physics interface Intensity
Computation section, then a global variable for the total power transmitted to the
detector is available.

R AY D E T E C T O R
Select an option from the Release feature list—All (the default), or any of the features
which are capable of releasing rays. When All is selected, the variables computed are
summed over all release features in the model.

110 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

Theory for the Geometrical Optics
Interface
The Geometrical Optics Interface theory is described in this section:

• Introduction to Geometrical Optics

• Material Discontinuity Theory
• Intensity, Wavefront Curvature, and Polarization
• Wavefront Curvature Calculation in Graded Media
• Refraction in Strongly Absorbing Media
• Attenuation Within Domains
• Ray Termination Theory
• Illuminated Surface Theory
• Theory of Mueller Matrices and Optical Components
• Thin Dielectric Film Theory
• Grating Theory
• Interference Pattern Theory
• Accumulator Theory: Domains
• Accumulator Theory: Boundaries
• References for the Geometrical Optics Interface

Introduction to Geometrical Optics

Assume that the electric field E of an electromagnetic wave can be represented in the
form

E = ae iΨ

where a is the slowly varying amplitude and the phase Ψ is a function of the position
vector q and time t. If the field is observed only at locations that are very far from any
source, the phase can be expressed as

Ψ = k ⋅ q – ωt + α

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 111

 where k is the wave vector, ω is the angular frequency, and α is an arbitrary phase shift.
In an isotropic medium, the wave vector and the angular frequency are further related
by the expression

ck
ω = ------------
n( q)

where n(q) is the refractive index of the medium. It follows that the wave vector and
angular frequency can be expressed in terms of the phase:

∂Ψ ∂Ψ
k = -------- ω = – --------
∂q ∂t

Following Landau and Lifshitz in Ref. 1, the wave vector and frequency are analogous
to the generalized momentum p and Hamiltonian H of a solid particle,

∂S ∂S
p = ------- H = – -------
∂q ∂t

where S is the integral of the Lagrangian along the particle’s trajectory. From this
analogy, it follows that the ray trajectory can be computed by solving six coupled
first-order ordinary differential equations for the components of k and q:

∂ω
------- = ∂ω
dk dq
-------- = – ------- -------
dt ∂q dt ∂k

In regions of constant refractive index, the simplified equations of motion are:

dk dq ck
-------- = 0 ------- = ----------
dt dt n k

These first-order equations for the ray trajectory are only valid in regions that are many
wavelengths away from any point source; that is, Ψ » 1 .

Initial Conditions — Direction

There are several options available for specifying the initial direction of rays. These
options work by assigning values to the degrees of freedom corresponding to the wave
vector k (SI unit: rad/m) of each ray.

112 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

EXPRESSION
The default is to enter an expression for the Ray direction vector L0 (dimensionless).
This vector need not have a magnitude of unity because it is always normalized
automatically. The initial wave vector is

ωnL 0
k = ---------------
c L0

where ω (SI unit: 1/s) is the angular frequency, c = 299,792,458 m/s is the speed of
light in a vacuum, and n (dimensionless) is the refractive index.

SPHERICAL
When Spherical is selected the initial wave vectors are sampled from a distribution in
wave vector space at each release point. The number of rays released from each point
is usually equal to the specified value Nw (dimensionless), although it may be larger if
the initial values of any auxiliary dependent variables are also sampled from a
distribution.

In 2D the initial wave vector components are

ωn
k x = -------- cos θ
c
ωn
k y = -------- sin θ
c

where θ goes from 0 to 2π in Nw steps. In 3D the initial wave vector components are
sampled according to the expressions

ωn
k x = -------- cos θ sin ϕ
c
ωn
k y = -------- sin θ sin ϕ
c
ωn
k z = -------- cos ϕ
c

The azimuthal angle θ is uniformly distributed from 0 to 2π. The polar angle ϕ is
sampled from the interval [0, π] with probability density proportional to sin ϕ. The
polar angle is arbitrarily chosen as the angle that the initial wave vector makes with the
positive z-axis, but any direction could be chosen because the sphere is isotropic.
Therefore each ray subtends approximately the same solid angle in wave vector space.

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 113

 HEMISPHERICAL
The Hemispherical option is the same as the Spherical option, except that in 2D θ goes
from 0 to π and in 3D ϕ goes from 0 to π/2. The angle (θ in 2D or ϕ in 3D) is measured
from the direction given by the Hemisphere axis setting.

CONICAL
The Conical option is the same as the Spherical option, except that in 2D θ goes from
0 to α and in 3D ϕ goes from 0 to α. The angle (θ in 2D or ϕ in 3D) is measured from
the direction given by the Cone axis setting.

LAMBERTIAN
The Lambertian option releases rays within a hemisphere in 3D, but the probability
distribution function is different from that of the Hemispherical option. Recall that for
an isotropic hemispherical distribution the polar angle ϕ has a probability density
proportional to sin ϕ; for the Lambertian distribution the probability density is instead
proportional to sin ϕ cos ϕ. Because of this extra cosine term, distributions following
this probability density are said to follow Lambert’s cosine law.

Material Discontinuity Theory

At a Material Discontinuity between two different media, the wave vector is
reinitialized using Snell’s law. First, the angle of incidence θi is computed:

ni ⋅ ns
θ i = acos  -----------------
ni ns

where ni is a unit vector in the direction of the incident ray and ns is a unit vector
normal to the material discontinuity.

At a boundary between two isotropic, non-absorbing media, the refracted ray

propagates in the direction nt given by the following relations:

n t = ηn i + γn s

γ = – η cos θ i + cos θ t

n1
η = ------
n2

θ t = asin ( η sin θ i )

114 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

where the ray propagates from the medium with refractive index n1 into the medium
with refractive index n2. Because the two media are non-absorbing, the quantities n1,
n2, θi, and θt are real-valued. If the media are weakly absorbing, the real parts of n1
and n2, are used. If the media are strongly absorbing, several corrections to Snell’s law
and the Fresnel equations must be made, as discussed in Refraction in Strongly
Absorbing Media.

If the maximum number of secondary rays has not yet been released, a reflected ray is
also released at the material discontinuity with the initial direction

n r = n i – 2n s cos θ i

If the ray intensity is computed, the release of secondary rays may be suppressed when
the intensity of the reflected ray is less than the user-defined Threshold intensity Ith
(SI unit: W/m2).

Intensity, Wavefront Curvature, and Polarization

When the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity or Compute intensity and
power in the physics interface Intensity Computation section, the intensity and
polarization of each ray is computed along its trajectory. The method used to compute
the intensity and polarization treats each ray as a propagating wavefront. The
wavefronts are assumed to subtend constant solid angles within each domain, which is
valid only when the domains are homogeneous. The following auxiliary dependent
variables are defined for each ray:

In 3D:

• Four initial Stokes parameters s00, s01, s02, and s03, which characterize the intensity
and polarization of the ray. They are reinitialized at material discontinuities and
walls.
• Two initial principal radii of curvature, r1,i and r2,i.
• Two principal radii of curvature, r1 and r2, which represent the maximum and
minimum radii of curvature of the intersection of the wavefront with an arbitrary
plane.
• Three components of a unit vector e1 in the direction corresponding to the first
principal radius of curvature. This information is used to reinitialize the principal
radii of curvature at curved boundaries.

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 115

 In 2D:

• Four Stokes parameters s0, s1, s2, and s3, which characterize the intensity and
polarization of the ray.
• One initial principal radius of curvature, r1,i.
• One radius of curvature r1 of the wavefront. All wavefronts are assumed to be
converging or diverging cylindrical waves, so it is not necessary to define a second
radius of curvature.

If the Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity in graded media or Compute

intensity and power in graded media, the intensity and polarization of each ray is
computed along its trajectory. The method used to compute the intensity and
polarization treats each ray as a propagating wavefront. Additional variables are defined
to enable the calculation of wavefront curvature in graded media. The following
auxiliary dependent variables are defined for each ray:

In 3D:

• The intensity help variable Γ and the normalized Stokes parameters sn01, sn02, and
sn03, which characterize the intensity and polarization of the ray. They are
reinitialized at material discontinuities and walls.
• Two principal curvature calculation help variables α1 and α2 and the rotation angle
φ which indicates the orientation of the principal curvature directions. An additional
help variable is used internally to detect poles in the local coordinate system
definition and to redefine the local coordinate system accordingly.
In 2D:

• The intensity help variable Γ and the normalized Stokes parameters sn01, sn02, and
sn03, which characterize the intensity and polarization of the ray. They are
reinitialized at material discontinuities and walls.
• One principal curvature calculation help variable α1.

For Compute intensity and power and Compute intensity and power in graded media an
additional auxiliary dependent variable is defined to indicate the total power
transmitted by each ray. This is necessary for computing heat sources generated by the
attenuation and absorption of rays.

THE STOKES PARAMETERS

The four Stokes parameters completely characterize the intensity and polarization of a
fully polarized, partially polarized, or unpolarized ray. The Stokes parameters can be

116 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

interpreted as indicators of the ray intensity that would be measured when sending a
ray through various arrangements of polarizers and wave retarders.

The Stokes parameters of a ray are defined as in Ref. 2 as follows. Consider a ray
propagating along the z-axis of a Cartesian coordinate system, with electric field
components polarized within the xy-plane. In 3D models the x-axis is parallel to the
first principal curvature direction e1. In 2D models the x-axis is always oriented in the
out-of-plane direction.

Let I(θ,ε) be the intensity of radiation polarized in the xy-plane at an angle θ

counterclockwise from the x-axis, when a phase angle of ε is introduced between the
x- and y-components. For example, I(0,0) is the intensity that would be measured after
sending a ray through a linear polarizer with a transmission axis parallel to the x-axis,
and I(π/4,π/2) is the intensity that would be measured after sending a ray through a
system of polarizers and wave retarders that only transmits radiation with right-handed
circular polarization. The four Stokes parameters are then defined as follows:

• s 0 = I ( 0, 0 ) + I ( π ⁄ 2, 0 ) is the sum of the intensity of linearly polarized light in the

x- and y-directions. It represents the total intensity of the ray.
• s 1 = I ( 0, 0 ) – I ( π ⁄ 2, 0 ) is the difference in intensity between light that is linearly
polarized in the x-direction and light that is linearly polarized in the y-direction.
• s 2 = I ( π ⁄ 4, 0 ) – I ( 3π ⁄ 4, 0 ) is the difference in intensity between linearly
polarized light in the direction of the line y = x and linearly polarized light in the
direction of the line y = – x .
• s 3 = I ( π ⁄ 4, π ⁄ 2 ) – I ( 3π ⁄ 4, π ⁄ 2 ) is the difference in intensity between light with
right-handed circular polarization and light with left-handed circular polarization.

For example, a ray with linear polarization parallel to the x-axis has Stokes parameters
s 0 = s 1 = I and s 2 = s 3 = 0 . A fully polarized ray is characterized by the relation

s 02 = s 12 + s 22 + s 32

A partially polarized or unpolarized ray is characterized by the relation

s 02 ≥ s 12 + s 22 + s 32

The degree of polarization P is defined as

s 12 + s 22 + s 32
P = ----------------------------------
s0

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 117

 A degree of polarization P = 1 corresponds to fully polarized radiation, whereas a
degree of polarization P = 0 corresponds to unpolarized radiation.

PRINCIPAL RADII OF CURVATURE

In 3D models, each ray is treated as a wavefront for which two principal radii of
curvature, r1 and r2, are defined. In addition, the values of the two principal radii of
curvature are stored as r1,i and r2,i whenever the ray reaches a boundary.

Within domains, the equations

dr 1 dr
--------- = – 1 --------2- = – 1
ds ds

are solved. Negative radii of curvature indicate that the wavefront is expanding as the
ray propagates, while positive radii of curvature indicate that the wavefront is
converging. A continuous locus of points at which either of the principal radii of
curvature equals zero is called a caustic surface. The unit vector e1 is defined so that
r1 is the radius of curvature of the intersection of the wavefront with the plane tangent
to e1 and the wave vector k. Similarly, if a vector e2 is defined so that

k × e1
e 2 = ------------------
k × e1

Then r2 is the radius of curvature of the intersection of the wavefront with a plane
tangent to e2 and k. The components of e1 are stored as auxiliary dependent variables
for each ray. The components of e2 can then be derived from e1 and k at any time.

The principal radii of curvature are reinitialized at material discontinuities, and the
orientation of the unit vectors e1 and e2 may change. If the unit vector in the direction
of the incident ray ni is not parallel to the surface normal ns, then it is possible to
define a unique tangent plane, called the plane of incidence, that contains the incident,
reflected, and refracted rays. The unit vector normal to this plane, u0, is defined as

ni × ns
u 0 = --------------------
ni × ns

If the ray is normal to the surface, then the incident ray is parallel to the refracted ray
and antiparallel to the reflected ray, and u0 can be any arbitrary unit vector orthogonal
to ni. In addition to the unit vector normal to the plane of incidence, the following
unit vectors tangent to the incident wavefront, refracted wavefront, reflected
wavefront, and surface normal are defined:

118 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 ui = ni × u0
ut = nt × u0
ur = nr × u0
us = ns × u0

where the subscripts i, t, and r denote the incident, refracted, and reflected wavefronts,
respectively. For a wavefront propagating in a direction n, with principal curvatures
k 1 = 1 ⁄ r 1 and k 2 = 1 ⁄ r 2 defined for directions e1 and e2, respectively, the
principal curvatures in two other orthogonal directions e 1' and e 2' (both orthogonal
to n) are

k 1' = k 1 cos2 θ + k 2 sin2 θ (3-1)

k 2' = k 1 sin2 θ + k 2 cos2 θ
k 12' = ( k 1 – k 2 ) cos θ sin θ

where θ is the angle of rotation about n which transforms the vectors e1 and e2 to e 1'
and e 2' , respectively. Because k 1' and k 2' are not principal curvatures, it is necessary
to include off-diagonal elements of the wavefront curvature tensor equal to k 12' .

The following algorithm is used to reinitialize the principal radii of curvature of the
wavefront and their orientations. The reinitialization of the curvature variables follows
the method of Stavroudis in Ref. 3.

1 Given ni and ns, compute unit vectors in the directions of the reflected and
refracted rays, nr and nt.
2 Compute the vectors u0, ui, ut, ur, and us.
3 Compute the angle of rotation θ(i) needed to transform the local coordinate system
with axes parallel to e1, e2, and ni to a local coordinate system with axes parallel to
u0, ui, and ni.
4 Transform the principal curvatures to the local coordinate system defined by u0, ui,
and ni by using Equation 3-1, substituting θ(i) for θ.
5 Given the two principal curvatures of the surface, k1,s and k2,s with directions e1,s
and e2,s, transform the curvature variables to a local coordinate system with axes
parallel to u0, us, and ns. Let the new curvature variables be denoted by k 1, s' , k 2, s' ,
and k 12, s' .
6 The curvatures of the wavefront and the surface have now been defined in
coordinate systems that share the axis u0 and only differ by a rotation by the angle
of incidence θi about u0. Defining the variables η and γ as in Material Discontinuity

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 119

 Theory, compute the curvature variables of the refracted ray in a coordinate system
defined by u0, ut, and nt using the equations

k 1, t' = ηk 1' + γk 1, s'

η cos θ i γ
k 12, t' = ------------------ k 12' + -------------- k 12, s'
cos θ t cos θ t
η cos2 θ i γ
k 2, t' = -------------------- k ' + ----------------- k '
cos2 θ t 2 cos2 θ t 2, s

7 Obtain the principal curvatures of the refracted ray by rotating the coordinate
system defined by u0, ut, and nt by an angle θ(t) about nt. The angle θ(t) is defined
as
2k 12, t'
θ ( t ) = --- atan  ----------------------------
1
2  k 1, t' – k 2, t'

8 Reinitialize the principal curvatures of the refracted ray:

(t) (t) (t) (t)
k 1, t = k 1, t' cos2 θ + 2k 12, t' cos θ sin θ + k 2, t' sin2 θ
(t) (t) (t)
k 2, t = k 1, t ' sin2 θ – 2k 12, t' cos θ sin θ + k 2, t' cos2 θ ( t )

9 Invert the principal curvatures to obtain the principal radii of curvature of the
refracted ray. Rotate u0 about nt by the angle θ(t) to obtain the reinitialized
principal curvature direction e1,t.
10 If a reflected ray is released, compute the curvature variables of the reflected ray in
a coordinate system defined by u0, ur, and nr using the equations

k 1, r' = k 1' – 2k 1, s' cos θ i

k 12, r' = – k 12' + 2k 12, s'

2
k 2, r' = k 2' – -------------- k 2, s'
cos θ i

11 Obtain the principal curvatures of the reflected ray by rotating the coordinate
system defined by u0, ur, and nr by an angle θ(r) about nr. The angle θ(r) is defined
as
2k 12, r'
θ ( r ) = --- atan  -----------------------------
1
2 k 2, r' – k 1, r'

12 Initialize the principal curvatures of the reflected ray:

120 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 (r) (r) (r) (r)
k 1, r = k 1, r' cos2 θ + 2k 12, r' cos θ sin θ + k 2, r' sin2 θ
(r) (r) (r)
k 2, r = k 1, r' sin2 θ – 2k 12, r' cos θ sin θ + k 2, r' cos2 θ ( r )

13 Invert the principal curvatures to obtain the principal radii of curvature of the
reflected ray. Rotate u0 about nr by the angle θ(r) to obtain the initialized principal
curvature direction e1,r.

In 2D components, only one principal radius of curvature is computed; each ray is

treated as a cylindrical wave. In addition, no auxiliary degrees of freedom for the
principal curvature direction are required because the out-of-plane direction can
always be treated as one of the axes of the local coordinate system that defines the
orientation of the wavefront.

In 2D axisymmetric model components, radii of curvature are computed for the

in-plane direction, i.e. the rz-plane, as well as the out-of-plane or azimuthal directions.
During ray-boundary interactions, these radii of curvature are reinitialized as if the ray
interacted with a 3D surface of revolution, which may have finite radii of curvature in
both the in-plane and out-of-plane directions.

S T O K E S VE C T O R C A L C U L A T I O N
The values of the Stokes parameters s0, s1, s2, and s3 are stored as the auxiliary
dependent variables s00, s01, s02, and s03 when a ray is released. These auxiliary
variables are updated when the ray hits a boundary. At any point along the ray’s
trajectory, each Stokes parameter is equal to

r 1, i r 2, i
s j = s 0j ------------------- j ∈ { 0, 1, 2, 3 }
r1 r2

In 2D, the second principal radius of curvature r2 is treated as an arbitrarily large

distance that remains constant for each ray. Because s1 and s2 are based on the
differences in intensity between orthogonal polarizations of radiation, a local
coordinate system must be defined for the ray. Because auxiliary degrees of freedom
have already been allocated for e1 as explained in Principal Radii of Curvature, a local
coordinate system is defined with axes parallel to e1, e2, and k. The axes parallel to e1
and e2 then function as the x- and y-axes in The Stokes Parameters, respectively.

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 121

 S T O KE S VE C T O R R E I N I T I A L I Z A T I O N

Reflection and Refraction of S- and P-polarized Rays

When a fully polarized ray arrives at a material discontinuity, the intensity of the
reflected and refracted rays can be computed using the Fresnel equations:

2n 1 cos θ i
t p = ------------------------------------------------
n 2 cos θ i + n 1 cos θ t
2n 1 cos θ i
t s = ------------------------------------------------
n 1 cos θ i + n 2 cos θ t
n 2 cos θ i – n 1 cos θ t
r p = ------------------------------------------------
n 2 cos θ i + n 1 cos θ t
n 1 cos θ i – n 2 cos θ t
r s = ------------------------------------------------
n 1 cos θ i + n 2 cos θ t

where the subscripts s and p denote s- and p-polarized rays, or rays with linear
polarizations perpendicular to and parallel to the plane of incidence, respectively. The
incident ray is assumed to move from a region of refractive index n1 toward a region
of refractive index n2. The angles θi and θt are the angle of incidence and angle of
refraction, respectively.

If n 1 > n 2 and the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle θ c = asin ( n 2 ⁄ n 1 ) ,
the incident ray undergoes total internal reflection, and the reflected ray has intensity
equal to that of the incident ray.

The intensity of the transmitted and reflected waves are related to the intensity of the
incident wave Ii by the equations

2
Ir = Ii rp
n 2 cos θ t 2
I t = --------------------- I i t p
n 1 cos θ i

for p-polarized rays, and

2
Ir = Ii rs
n 2 cos θ t 2
I t = --------------------- I i t s
n 1 cos θ i

for s-polarized rays.

122 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

Phase Shift Calculation for Reflected and Refracted Rays
Any fully polarized ray can be resolved into a pair of s- and p-polarized rays, with a
phase shift δ between them. The reflected s- and p-polarized rays at a material
discontinuity may then undergo different phase shifts; this may, for example, cause a
linearly polarized incident ray to be yield a reflected ray with elliptical polarization. In
addition, a phase shift may be applied to the transmitted ray if one or more Thin
Dielectric Film subnodes are added to a Material Discontinuity node. The phase shifts
of s- and p-polarized rays are computed from the complex-valued Fresnel coefficients:

Ψ s, r = arg ( r s )
Ψ p, r = arg ( r p )
Ψ s, t = arg ( t s )
Ψ p, t = arg ( t p )

Unpolarized and Partially Polarized Rays

An unpolarized ray has the following properties:

• The instantaneous intensity of the ray changes at random.

• At a given instant in time, the ray has an equal probability of being polarized in any
direction orthogonal to the ray trajectory.
• The previous two properties are not affected by the transmission of the ray through
a wave retarder or a polarization rotator.

An unpolarized ray has Stokes parameters s 1 = s 2 = s 3 = 0 .

A partially polarized ray is neither completely deterministic nor completely random. It

is characterized by a degree of polarization between 0 and 1.

Born and Wolf (Ref. 2) analyze the polarization of partially polarized and unpolarized
quasi-monochromatic rays. A ray is quasi-monochromatic if it has a finite range of
frequencies that is much smaller than its mean frequency, Δω « ω 0 . The Stokes vector
s ≡ ( s 0, s 1, s 2, s 3 ) of a quasi-monochromatic, partially polarized ray is reinitialized by
first expressing the ray as a combination of a fully polarized ray and an unpolarized ray:

(1) (2)
s = s +s
(1)
s = ( s p, s 1, s 2, s 3 )
(2)
s = ( s 0 – s p, 0, 0, 0 )
2 2 2
sp = s1 + s2 + s3

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 123

 The unpolarized ray is then expressed as a linear combination of two fully polarized
rays with linear, orthogonal polarizations. The Stokes parameters of the fully polarized
rays are then reinitialized normally.

Wavefront Curvature Calculation in Graded Media

It is possible to compute the ray intensity by changing Intensity computation to
Compute intensity or Compute intensity in graded media in the settings window for the
Geometrical Optics interface. The options Compute intensity and power and Compute
intensity and power in graded media can also be used to compute intensity, with the only
difference being that these options define an additional auxiliary dependent variable
for the total power transferred by the ray. The setting Compute intensity is more robust
and accurate than Compute intensity in graded media, but is only applicable to
homogeneous media. The setting Compute intensity in graded media can be used for
both homogeneous and graded media, but it introduces more numerical error than
Compute intensity.

ASSUMPTIONS FOR COMPUTING INTENSITY IN HOMOGENEOUS MEDIA

When Compute intensity is selected, the ray intensity is computed along each ray path
using the following assumptions:

1 The wavefront represented by each ray subtends a constant plane angle (2D) or solid
angle (3D), which can change only when rays are reflected or refracted at
boundaries.
2 Given the radii of curvature at two positions within the same domain and the
intensity at one of these two positions, the intensity at the other position can be
computed using the relationship
r 1, 0 r 2, 0
I = I 0 ---------------------
r1 r2

3 Except when rays are reflected or refracted at boundaries, the principal radii of
curvature change at a constant rate:
dr 1 dr
--------- = --------2- = – 1
ds ds

4 The principal curvature directions do not change, except when rays are reflected or
refracted at boundaries.

124 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

These assumptions are not valid in graded media, in which the refractive index changes
continuously as a function of position. It is possible for the angle between two different
rays to change as they propagate through the medium, so the solid angle subtended by
the wavefront is no longer constant. As a result, the ray intensity cannot be expressed
using the ratio of initial and final principal radii of curvature.

C U R VA T U RE TE N S O R D E F I N I T I O N I N G R A D E D M E D I A
The calculation of ray intensity in graded media is based on the concept of a curvature
tensor K, defined in terms of the principal curvatures κ1 and κ2 and the corresponding
principal curvature directions e1 and e2:

K = κ 1 e 1 e 1T + κ 2 e 2 e 2T

Because e1 and e2 are orthogonal, it follows that κ1 and κ2 are eigenvalues of K. It

also follows that K is singular because there is no contribution that is orthogonal to
both e1 and e2.

The signs of the principal curvatures are chosen so that positive curvature indicates that
the wavefront is converging, whereas negative curvature indicates that the wavefront
is diverging.

The selection of the coordinate system in which the curvature tensor is defined is
crucial. It is convenient to describe the coordinate system so that two of the coordinate
axes lie in the plane containing e1 and e2, since this reduces the number of nonzero
terms in K. Further reduction in the number of nonzero terms can be achieved if K
can be defined in a coordinate system in which e1 and e2 are basis vectors. This is
possible in 2D because one of the principal curvature directions is always parallel to the
out-of-plane direction, but in 3D it is not feasible because the principal curvature
directions can change as rays propagate through a graded medium.

In the most general 3D case, the curvature tensor is described using the following
symbols, each of which corresponds to a different orthonormal basis:

• KX: curvature tensor defined in the Cartesian coordinate system with basis vectors
x, y, and z.
• KW: curvature tensor defined in the coordinate system consisting of the two
principal curvature directions e1 and e2 and the direction of propagation t.
• KS: curvature tensor defined in a coordinate system in which one basis vector is the
direction of propagation t. The other two basis vectors s1 and s2 can be determined
arbitrarily, as long as they are orthogonal to each other and to t, such that

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 125

 s 1 × s 2 = t . It is more convenient to operate in this coordinate system if the basis
vectors can be expressed strictly in terms of x, y, z, and t.

The basis vectors s1 and s2 are defined as follows:

t×z
s 1 = ---------------
t×z

s2 = t × s1

To avoid poles in the definition of the basis vectors, the following alternative
definitions are used when the rays propagate nearly parallel to the z-axis:

t×x
s 1 = ---------------
t×x

s2 = t × s1

The relationship between s1, s2, e1, and e2 is given by

e 1 = s 1 cos ( φ ) – s 2 sin ( φ )

e 2 = s 1 sin ( φ ) + s 2 cos ( φ )

where the rotation angle φ is an auxiliary dependent variable that is stored for each ray.

The relationship between KS and KW is given by

T
KS = Q0 KW Q0

where Q0 is the rotation matrix:

s1 ⋅ e1 s1 ⋅ e2 s1 ⋅ t cos ( φ ) sin ( φ ) 0
Q 0 = s 2 ⋅ e 1 s 2 ⋅ e 2 s 2 ⋅ t = – sin ( φ ) cos ( φ ) 0
t ⋅ e1 t ⋅ e2 t ⋅ t 0 0 0

The relationship between KX and KS is given by

T
K X = QK S Q

where Q is the rotation matrix:

126 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 x ⋅ s1 x ⋅ s2 x ⋅ t
Q = y ⋅ s1 y ⋅ s2 y ⋅ t
z ⋅ s1 z ⋅ s2 z ⋅ t

In 2D, one of the principal curvature directions is always known, so it is possible to

define s1 and s2 so that they coincide with e1 and e2. The rotation matrix Q0 is the
identity, and the auxiliary dependent variable for the angle φ can be omitted.

D E R I VA T I VE S O F T H E C U R V A T U R E TE N S O R
Following Ref. 5, the derivative of the curvature tensor along the ray trajectory in a
graded medium is given by the expression

5
dK
-----------S- =
ds  Mi
i=1

where the terms Mi correspond to the different ways in which the curvature can
depend on the medium properties. They are defined using the following expressions:

M1 = KS ⋅ KS

1
M 2 = – --- ( t ⋅ ∇ S n )K S
n

1
M 3 = – --- Π ( ∇ S ⊗ ∇ S n )Π
n

2
M 4 = -----2- Π ( ∇ S n ⊗ ∇ S n )Π
n

1
M 5 = – --- [ ( K∇ S n ) ⊗ t + t ⊗ ∇ S nK ]
n

where Π is the projection matrix:

Π = I – (t ⊗ t)

The gradient operator ∇ S consists of derivatives that are taken with respect to the local
coordinates with basis vectors s1, s2, and t.

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 127

 DERIVATIVES OF THE PRINCIPAL CUR VATURES
By application of the chain rule, the derivatives of the nonzero elements of KS can be
expressed in terms of the principal curvatures that occupy the diagonal elements of KW
and the rotation angle φ:

∂κ ∂K S, 11 ∂K S, 12 ∂K S, 22
--------1- = -----------------
- cos ( φ ) 2 – 2 ----------------- - sin ( φ ) 2
- sin ( φ ) cos ( φ ) + -----------------
∂s ∂s ∂s ∂s

∂κ ∂K S, 11 ∂K S, 12 ∂K S, 22
--------2- = -----------------
- sin ( φ ) 2 + 2 ----------------- - cos ( φ ) 2
- sin ( φ ) cos ( φ ) + -----------------
∂s ∂s ∂s ∂s

∂φ ∂K S, 12 ∂K S, 11 ∂K S, 22
---  -----------------
1 - -----------------
------ = ----------------- - cos ( 2φ ) + 1 - – ------------------ sin ( 2φ )
∂s κ2 – κ1 ∂s 2  ∂s ∂s 

NUMERICAL STABILIZATION
The principal curvatures κ1 and κ2 are not ideal choices for the auxiliary dependent
variables stored by each ray because their values can become arbitrarily large as rays
approach caustics. Similarly, the principal radii of curvature r1 and r2 are not ideal
choices because their values can become arbitrarily large when a diverging wavefront
begins to converge while propagating through a graded medium.

Instead, the auxiliary dependent variables stored by each ray are the help variables α1
and α2. In 2D, only one help variable is allocated because the out-of-plane principal
radius of curvature is assumed to be infinite. The principal curvatures are expressed in
terms of the help variables using the expression

κ i = κ 0 tan α

where κ0=1 1/m and i ∈ [ 1, 2 ] . The derivatives are then related by the expression

dα i 1 dκ 2
--------- = ------ ---------i cos α i
ds κ 0 ds

Similarly, the intensity may become infinitely large at caustics, and its reciprocal
becomes infinitely large as rays undergo attenuation, so a help variable Γ is used to
represent the intensity of the ray:

I = I 0 tan Γ

where I0=1 W/m2. The relationship between the ray intensity help variable and the
principal curvatures is

128 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 dΓ
------- = 1
--- sin ( 2Γ ) [ κ 1 + κ 2 – 2κk 0 ]
ds 2

where k0 is the free space wave number and κ is the imaginary part of the refractive
index. Three additional auxiliary dependent variables are used to store information
about the remaining Stokes parameters.

Refraction in Strongly Absorbing Media

The direction of ray propagation may be described via the loci of points having
constant phase or amplitude. In a non-absorbing medium, one which may be
described by a real-valued refractive index, changes in the ray intensity are caused only
by the convergence or divergence of the wavefront, so the surfaces in which the phase
is constant are parallel to the surfaces in which the amplitude is constant.

In a weakly absorbing medium, in which the attenuation of the power transmitted by

each ray decays over a length scale much larger than the wavelength, it may be assumed
that the surfaces of constant amplitude are still parallel to the surfaces of constant
phase. The directions of the reflected and refracted rays at material discontinuities, as
well as the Fresnel coefficients that govern their intensity, may be computed using the
real parts of the refractive indices on either side of the boundary. However, as the
imaginary part of the refractive index increases in magnitude, this assumption may
begin to present a considerable source of error because the surfaces of constant
amplitude and surfaces of constant phase are no longer parallel.

In the Settings window for the Geometrical Optics interface, select the Use corrections
for strongly absorbing media check box in the physics interface Intensity Computation
section to modify Snell’s law and the Fresnel equations to accurately model refraction
between media with complex refractive indices. This check box is available when
Intensity computation is set to Compute intensity or Compute intensity and power.

Following Chang et al. in Ref. 6, the wave vector in an absorbing medium is treated as
a bivector with complex components,

k = k 0 ( N e – iK f )

where k is the wave vector, k0 is the wave number in free space, and e and f are unit
vectors with real-valued components indicating the normal direction to the surfaces of
constant phase and surfaces of constant amplitude, respectively. The real-valued
quantities N and K, sometimes called the apparent refractive indices, are related to the
complex refractive index by the relations

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 129

 2 2 2 2
N –K = n –κ

NK e ⋅ f = nκ

where n−iκ is the complex refractive index of the medium. From these relations the
apparent refractive indices can be computed as long as the dot product e ⋅ f is known.
To store information about the value of this dot product, auxiliary dependent variables
for the components of f are stored when the Use corrections for strongly absorbing media
check box is selected.

At material discontinuities, the normal vectors to the surfaces of constant amplitude

and phase follow a modified form of Snell’s law that uses the apparent refractive
indices,

N 1 sin θ 1 = N 2 sin θ 2

K 1 sin Ψ 1 = K 2 sin ψ 2

where θ and ψ are the acute angles between the surface normal and the normal vectors
to the surfaces of constant phase and surfaces of constant amplitude, respectively. The
real part of the apparent refractive index in the second domain is the root of the quartic
equation

4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
N 2 – [ N s + K s + ( n 2 – κ 2 ) ]N 2 + N s K s
2 s 2 2
+ ( n 2 – k 2 )N 2 – ( nk – N s K s cos φ ) = 0

where N s = N 1 sin θ 1 and K s = K 1 sin ψ 1 . The angle φ is the azimuthal angle

between the normal to surfaces of constant amplitude and the plane of incidence.

The reinitialized unit normal vectors to the surfaces of constant amplitude and phase
are

N1 N1
e 2 = ------- e 1 +  cos θ 2 – ------- cos θ 1 n
N2 N2

K1 K1
f 2 = ------- e 1 +  cos ψ 2 – ------- cos ψ 1 n
K2  K2 

whereas for the reflected ray the reinitialized unit normal vectors are

e 2 = e 1 – 2n cos θ

130 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 f 2 = f 1 – 2n cos ψ

Attenuation Within Domains

Rays can gradually lose energy as they propagate through a domain in which the
refractive index is complex. The convention of the Geometrical Optics interface is that
a lossy medium has refractive index given by n-iκ. Given the electric field E0 at one
location, the electric field of a ray with infinite wavefront radii of curvature as it
propagates through a homogeneous, lossy medium is

k 0 KL
E = E 0 exp  – --------------- cos α
N

where L is the optical path length between the points at which E and E0 are measured
and k0 is the wave number in free space. In weakly absorbing media, N=n, K=κ, and
α=0. If the Use corrections for strongly absorbing media check box is selected, N is the
real part of the apparent refractive index, K is the complex part of the apparent
refractive index, and α is the angle between the surfaces of constant amplitude and
surfaces of constant phase; both of these concepts are explained in Refraction in
Strongly Absorbing Media. The ray intensity and power are both proportional to the
square of the electric field norm, so these quantities change according to the relations

2k 0 KL
I = I 0 exp  – ------------------- cos α
 N 
2k KL
P = P 0 exp  – ------------------- cos α
0
 N 

When computing the ray intensity in absorbing media, the principal radii of curvature
of the wavefront must also be considered. The two contributing factors are accounted
for by allocating auxiliary dependent variables for the initial Stokes parameters
following the most recent reinitialization of the wave vector, which are expressed as
solutions to first-order differential equations of the form

dsi, 0
------------- = – 2k 0 Kcsi, 0
dt

where c is the speed of light in the medium and si,0 is value of one of the Stokes
parameters of the ray before the effects of changes in the principal radii of curvature
have been applied.

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 131

 Ray Termination Theory
The Ray Termination feature can annihilate rays when their intensity or power
decreases below a specified threshold.

If the ray intensity is computed, then the threshold ray intensity Ith (SI unit: W/m2)
can be specified. Then the termination criterion is

I < Ith

If the ray power is computed, then the threshold ray power Qth (SI unit: W) can be
specified. Then the termination criterion is

Q < Q th

It is also possible to specify termination criteria based on both intensity and power; in
this case, the rays terminate if either criterion is satisfied.

Whenever possible, the Ray Termination feature attempts to stop rays at the exact
instant when the ray intensity or power reaches a specified threshold value. A
closed-form analytic solution for the exact stop time is available under the following
circumstances:

• The rays represent planar wavefronts in an absorbing medium, or

• The rays represent spherical or ellipsoidal wavefronts in a non-absorbing medium.

If neither of these special conditions is met, the ray can only terminate if the
termination criterion is met at the beginning of a time step taken by the solver; the ray
intensity or power at the instant the ray is stopped may be less than the threshold.

P LA NA R WAVE FRON TS IN AN AB SO RB I NG M E DIU M

In this special case, the principal wavefront radii of curvature are so large that the ray
intensity can only change significantly in an attenuating medium. The exact time ts
(SI unit: s) at which the ray intensity reaches the threshold value is

t s = t 0 + τ log  -------
I
I th

where

• t0 (SI unit: s) is the previous time step, reflection time, or refraction time,
• I (SI unit: W/m2) is the intensity at t0, and
• Ith (SI unit: W/m2) is the threshold intensity.

132 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

If the termination criterion is based on the ray power Q (SI unit: W) instead of ray
intensity, the analogous expression for the stop time is

t s = t 0 + τ log  ---------
Q
Q th

The characteristic time for ray attenuation τ (SI unit: s) is

λ0 N
τ = --------------
4πcK

where

• λ0 (SI unit: m) is the free-space wavelength of the radiation,

• N − iK (dimensionless) is the apparent refractive index of the medium, where N and
K are real numbers, and
• c = 299,792,458 m/s is the speed of light in a vacuum.

D IVE RG IN G WAVE FRO N TS I N A N ON - AB SO R B IN G ME D I U M

In a non-absorbing medium in which the wavefront is non-planar, the ray can only
terminate due to the intensity decreasing below the threshold, since the power does
not change. The time ts (SI unit: s) at which the ray intensity reaches the threshold in
a non-attenuating, homogeneous medium is

t s = t 0 + ----------  r 1 + r 2 + ( r 1 – r 2 ) 2 + 4 ------- r 1 r 2 
1 I
2V g  I th 

where

• t0 (SI unit: s) is the previous time step, reflection time, or refraction time,
• Vg (SI unit: m/s) is the group velocity magnitude,
• r1 (SI unit: m) is the first principal radius of curvature of the wavefront at t0,
• r2 (SI unit: m) is the second principal radius of curvature of the wavefront at t0,
• I (SI unit: W/m2) is the intensity at t0, and
• Ith (SI unit: W/m2) is the threshold intensity.

In 2D models, or in 3D models where the wavefronts are cylindrical (one extremely

large radius of curvature and one finite radius of curvature), the stop time is instead

t s = t 0 + ------  r 1 + ------- r 1 
1 I
Vg I th

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 133

 where r1 (SI unit: m) is the finite principal radius of curvature of the cylindrical
wavefront.

Illuminated Surface Theory

The Illuminated Surface is used to simulate the emission of rays from a surface, under
the assumption that the emitted rays are specularly reflected from an external radiation
source. It is assumed that the entire selected surface has direct line of sight to the
external radiation source; that is, shadowing due to other geometric entities is not
taken into account.

If the Incident ray direction vector is a User defined direction or based on Solar position,
the incident rays are treated as plane waves arriving from a distant source, and the
intensity of the incident rays Ii is specified directly.

If the Incident ray direction vector is computed using a User defined point source, the
principal radii of curvature of the incident wavefront are set equal to the distance from
the source point to the initial ray position,

r 1 = r 2 = – r src – q

where q is the initial ray position, rsrc is the position vector of the point source, and
r1 and r2 are the principal radii of curvature of the incident wavefront. In 2D, only one
principal radius of curvature is defined. The incident ray intensity is derived from the
total source power Psrc,

P src
I i = ----------------------------
4π r src – q

The principal radii of curvature of the reflected rays are then computed using the
approach outlined in Principal Radii of Curvature. Because no thin films are present
on the surface, the intensity of the reflected ray is equal to the intensity of the incident
ray. The effect of specular reflection is to negate the third and fourth Stokes parameters
of the ray.

PER TURBATIONS DUE TO LIMB DARKENING AND SURFACE ROUGHNESS

It is often necessary to take the finite size of a radiation source into account when
modeling the reflection or refraction of rays at an illuminated surface. This is
particularly true in solar energy applications, in which the finite size of the solar disk
significantly affects the focusing capability of solar concentrating devices.

134 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

To release rays with a distribution of initial directions based on the finite size of the
radiation source, select Create light cones at release points or Sample from conical
distribution option from the Corrections for finite source diameter check box in the
settings window for the Illuminated Surface feature.

Selecting Create light cones at release points causes a cone of rays to be released at each
release point. Selecting Sample from conical distribution causes only a single ray to be
released at each point, but each ray’s initial direction is sampled form a cone-shaped
probability distribution function. The maximum angle between any incident ray and
the specified incident ray direction is the user-defined maximum disk angle
ψm (SI unit: rad).

The options described above are also available in the settings window for the Solar
Radiation feature, in which they have the same effects on the initial direction of the
solar radiation.

The default value of the maximum disk angle, or the maximum angle between the
direction of the incident rays and the specified Incident ray direction vector, is
ψm=4.65 mrad based on the following expressions (see for example Ref. 10):

d sun
ψ m = asin  ------------
 2L 0 
9
d sun = 1.392 × 10 m

11
L 0 = 1.496 × 10 m

When the finite size of the sun is taken into account, radiation from the center of the
solar disc tends to be greater in intensity than radiation from the edges of the disc, a
phenomenon known as limb darkening. If Empirical power law is selected from the Limb
darkening model list in the settings window for the Illuminated Surface or Solar Radiation
feature, the solar radiation is assumed to follow a power law distribution. Given the
intensity I(0) of radiation along a line intersecting the center of the sun, the incident
solar radiation from any other point on the sun is given by the expression

I ( ψs ) α(λ )
-------------- = μ 0
I(0)

where

μ = cos ψs

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 135

 and ψs is the angle between a line of sight to the center of the sun and a line from the
center of the sun to another visible point on its surface. The exponent α can vary from
0, for which all solar radiation is of uniform intensity, to 1, at which the intensity of
solar radiation falls off linearly as a function of radial position on the visible solar disc.
Based on Ref. 10 the exponent α is given as a function of the free-space wavelength λ0:

 –1 –1 –1
 – 0.023 + 0.292λ 0 λ 0 ≤ 2.4μm

a ( λ 0 ) =  0.3778 + 0.125λ – 1 2.4μm
–1 –1
≤ λ 0 ≤ 2.8μm
–1
 0
 – 0.507 + 0.441λ –1 2.8μm
–1 –1
≤ λ0
 0

If Linear is selected from the Limb darkening model list, the distribution of solar intensity
is instead

I ( ψs ) 1 + βμ
-------------
- = ----------------
I(0) 1+β

It is also possible to include the effect of surface roughness when computing the
incident ray direction vector at illuminated surfaces by selecting the Include surface
roughness check box. The value of the Surface slope error σφ is used as the standard
deviation in a Rayleigh distribution of perturbation angles about the unperturbed ray
direction vector, from which a user-defined number of rays are sampled.

Theory of Mueller Matrices and Optical Components

Optical devices such as polarizers and wave retarders are often used to manipulate the
polarization of radiation. These devices can be modeled by multiplying the Stokes
vector of the incident ray si by a Mueller matrix M,

s = Ms i

As explained in The Stokes Parameters, the Stokes vector requires a set of orthogonal
coordinate axes to be defined at the location of a propagating ray. The x-axis of this
local coordinate system, e1, is the first principal curvature direction in 3D models and
the out-of-plane direction in 2D models.

Similarly, the Mueller matrix of an optical device is defined with respect to a local
coordinate system. This system need not coincide with the coordinate system that
defines the Stokes vector of the incident ray. Therefore it is usually necessary to apply
a rotation to one of these local coordinate systems before applying the Mueller matrix:

136 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 –1
s = R MRs i

where R is the rotation matrix

1 0 0 0
R = 0 cos ( 2θ ) sin ( 2θ ) 0
0 – sin ( 2θ ) cos ( 2θ ) 0
0 0 0 1

where θ is the angle by which the local coordinate system of the ray must be rotated
so that the x-axes of the two local coordinate systems both lie in the plane of incidence
and the y-axes are parallel.

Mueller matrices of some common optical devices are tabulated in Ref. 7.

LINEAR PO LA RIZER T HEO R Y

A Linear Polarizer is an optical device that produces linearly polarized light. An ideal
linear polarizer transmits radiation that is polarized in one direction, indicated by the
transmission axis T, while completely preventing the transmission of radiation
polarized in the orthogonal direction.

In a local coordinate system in which the x-axis is parallel to the transmission axis, the
Mueller matrix of the ideal linear polarizer is

11 0 0
1
M = --- 1 1 0 0
2 00 0 0
00 0 0

LINEAR WAVE RETARD ER T HEOR Y

A Linear Wave Retarder is an optical device that separates a ray into two rays with
orthogonal linear polarizations, retards the phase of one of these rays with respect to
the other, and then recombines the two rays. The direction of polarization that
undergoes this retardation is called the slow axis, and the orthogonal direction is called
the fast axis F. The phase delay between the two orthogonal components is the
retardance δ of the device.

In a local coordinate system in which the x-axis is parallel to the fast axis, the Mueller
matrix of an ideal linear wave retarder is

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 137

 1 0 0 0
M = 0 1 0 0
0 0 cos δ sin δ
0 0 – sin δ cos δ

For example, a quarter-wave retarder (δ = π/2) converts circularly polarized light to

linearly polarized light, whereas a half-wave retarder (δ = π) converts left-handed
circularly polarized light to right-handed circularly polarized light.

CIRCULAR WAVE RETARDER THEOR Y

A Circular Wave Retarder, or polarization rotator, is an optical device that separates a
ray into two rays with left-handed and right-handed circular polarizations, retards the
phase of one of these rays with respect to the other, and recombines the two rays. A
right circular polarization rotator is represented by the Mueller matrix

1 0 0 0
M = 0 cos δ sin δ 0
0 – sin δ cos δ 0
0 0 0 1

The circular retarder rotates the polarization ellipse of the incident ray by an angle δ ⁄ 2
about the origin.

IDEAL DEPOLARIZER THEORY

The Ideal Depolarizer converts radiation of any polarization to completely unpolarized
radiation. The Mueller matrix of an ideal depolarizer is

1 0 0 0
M = 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0

Thin Dielectric Film Theory

Thin dielectric films can be used to change the reflection and transmission coefficients
at boundaries. Individual dielectric layers can be applied to a boundary by using the
Thin Dielectric Film subnode, which can be added to the Material Discontinuity and
Wall nodes. The Thin Dielectric Film subnode can be added to the same boundary
multiple times to create multilayer films. In general, the thickness of these thin

138 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

dielectric films is comparable in magnitude to the wavelength of the rays; a minimum
requirement is that the thickness of each layer is much less than the coherence length
of the incident rays.

COMPUTING THE FRESNEL COEFFICIENTS OF BOUNDARIES WITH THIN

DIELECTRIC FILMS
When the Thin Dielectric Film feature is used to model dielectric layers, the equivalent
Fresnel coefficients for ray propagation through the layer are computed using a
recursive algorithm. These equivalent Fresnel coefficients are, in general,
complex-valued reflection and transmission coefficients that account for the phase
delay and amplitude change in the reflected and transmitted rays resulting from the
multiple reflections that the ray undergoes within the dielectric layer, all of which are
considered to be coherent with each other. As these multiple reflected and refracted
rays propagate into the domains adjacent to the film, they can interfere constructively
or destructively with each other, which affects the total electric field amplitude that
propagates into each domain. This is illustrated in Figure 3-3 below. Due to the rays’
capability to interfere constructively or destructively with each other, the optical
thickness of the thin film has a significant effect on the amplitude and phase of the
reflected and refracted rays.

Figure 3-3: One incident ray enters a thin dielectric film and produces a large number of
coherent reflected and refracted rays in the adjacent semi-infinite media. These rays can
interfere constructively or destructively with each other.

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 139

 Consider, as shown above, a thin film of thickness d and refractive index n2 bounded
by semi-infinite domains with refractive indices n1 and n3. Also consider a linearly
polarized ray with electric field amplitude E0 that propagates through the domain of
refractive index n1 and interacts with the thin film. Let the coefficients of refraction
and transmission for a ray moving from the domain of refractive index na to the
domain of refractive index nb be denoted rab and tab, respectively. When the ray arrives
at the film, the refracted ray undergoes a series of reflections at the boundaries between
the film and either adjacent domain. Following Ref. 2, the amplitudes of the refracted
rays in either domain form a pair of converging geometric series with sums

∞
E1 r 12 + r 23 e 2iβ
r eq = ------- = r 12 + t 12 t 21 r 23 e 2iβ
E0  ( r21 r23 e2iβ )k = ------------------------------------
1 + r 12 r 23 e 2iβ
-
k=0

for rays returning to the domain of refractive index n1, and

∞ iβ
E3 t 12 t 23 e
t eq = ------- = t 12 t 23 e iβ
E0  ( r21 r23 e 2iβ ) k = ------------------------------------
1 + r 12 r 23 e 2iβ
-
k=0

for rays entering the domain of refractive index n3. The angle β is the phase delay that
is introduced when a ray propagates from one surface of the film to the other,

2πn 2 d cos θ 2
β = --------------------------------- (3-2)
λ0

where λ0 is the free-space wavelength and θ2 is the angle between the wave vector of
a ray within the thin film and the normal to the film. The dielectric film can be modeled
as a material discontinuity with transmission and reflection coefficients teq = E3 / E0
and req = E1 / E0.

Several derivations for the equivalent Fresnel coefficients are also given by
Heavens in Ref. 8, including recursive algorithms and matrix
formulations. However, the sign conventions and symbols used in this
section have been selected to be consistent with Born and Wolf (Ref. 2)
and therefore differ from those in Ref. 8.

140 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

AUTOMATIC SETUP OF SINGLE-LAYER FILMS
The Material Discontinuity node includes options for automatic setup of single-layer
films with specified reflectance r or transmittance t. In either case the layers are
assumed to be non-absorbing, so that r + t = 1.

The specified reflectance R of a thin film with refractive index n is valid only for certain
values of the angle of incidence θi and free-space wavelength λ0. After computing the
Fresnel coefficients for rays entering and leaving the layer, the reflectance can be
expressed as

2 2
r 12 + r 23 e 2iβ 2 r 12 + r 23 + 2r 12 r 23 cos ( 2β )
R = ------------------------------------
- = -------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 2
-
1 + r 12 r 23 e 2iβ r 12 r 23 + 2r 12 r 23 cos ( 2β ) + 1

Solving this expression for β and substituting the result into Equation 3-2 yields

2 2 2 2
λ0  r 12 r 23 R – r 12 – r 23 + R
d = -------------------------- acos  -----------------------------------------------------------
-
4πn cos θ 2  2 2
2r r ( 1 – R ) 
12 23

For nonzero angles of incidence, the layer thickness that yields a specified reflectance
or transmittance depends on the ray polarization. The coefficients of reflection for rays
propagating into or out of the layer are either those for S- or P-polarized radiation,
depending on the selected option in the Specified film behavior applies to list.

In some cases, the specified transmittance or reflectance will be impossible

to achieve, given the refractive indices of the layer and the surrounding
media. In such cases, rays will pass through the boundary as if no dielectric
layers were present.

AUTOMATIC SETUP OF ANTI-REFLECTIVE COATINGS

It is often desirable to apply anti-reflective coatings at material discontinuities to
minimize the intensity of reflected rays. The most general way to apply an
anti-reflective coating is to select Add layers to surface or Add layers to surface, repeating
from the Thin dielectric films on boundary list, then to add one or more Thin Dielectric
Film subnodes to the Material Discontinuity node. Alternatively, the refractive index
and thickness of a single-layer anti-reflective coating can be computed automatically by
selecting Anti-reflective coating from the list.

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 141

 For oblique incidence, the refractive index of the ideal single-layer coating differs for
s- and p-polarized rays. For s-polarized rays, the refractive index n2 of a film between
media with refractive indices n1 and n3 is

2 2
n2 = ( n 1 sin θ i ) 2 + n 1 cos θ i n 3 – ( n 1 sin θ i )

For p-polarized rays, the refractive index is

2 2
2 cos θ i n a n 1 ( n 3 + n 3 – 4 cos θ i sin θ i n a n 1 n 3 )
n 2 = ------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 n a cos θ i

where

2 2
n 3 – ( n 1 sin θ i )
n a ≡ ----------------------------------------
2
-
n3

Either equation returns the value of n2 for which r12 = r23 for rays of the specified
polarization at the specified angle of incidence. An ideal anti-reflective coating is
obtained when the magnitude of the equivalent reflection coefficient is 0. This can be
obtained when r12 = r23 and the phase delay δ is equal to π/2. Substituting this
requirement into Equation 3-2 yields an expression for d:

λ0
d = -------------------------
4n 2 cos θ 2

SETUP OF REPEATING MULTILAYER FILMS

It is possible to identify a unit cell consisting of a small number of thin dielectric films
and to repeat these layers a specified number of times. To set up repeating multilayer
films, select Add layers to surface, repeating from the Thin dielectric films on boundary
list.

Select the Repeat layer in multilayer films check box in the Repeating Multilayer Films
section of the Thin Dielectric Film settings window to include the layer in the unit cell
of a repeating multilayer film. It is possible to include some layers in the unit cell while
excluding others. This could be used, for example, to ensure that a repeating multilayer
film begins and ends with the same layer, since in this case the last layer is not included
in any unit cell. However, the Thin Dielectric Film nodes for all layers in the unit cell
must be adjacent to each other in the Model Builder.

142 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

Enter a value or expression for the Number of repeating unit cells N in the Material
Discontinuity settings window. If there are x Thin Dielectric Film nodes in which the
Repeat layer in multilayer films check box is selected and y Thin Dielectric Film nodes in
which the Repeat layer in multilayer films check box is cleared, the total number of
dielectric layers in the multilayer film Nt will be Nx + y.

The recursive algorithm described in the section Computing the Fresnel Coefficients
of Boundaries with Thin Dielectric Films is not well-suited to the calculation of the
effective Fresnel coefficients for an extremely large number of thin dielectric films.
Instead, the following approach is used, in which the equivalent Fresnel coefficients are
expressed in terms of the product of a large number of 2-by-2 matrices.

Let the electric field amplitude of the incident, reflected, and transmitted rays entering
i r i
layer m be denoted E m , E m , and E m + 1 , respectively, where m ∈ [ 1, N t ] . The
ratios of the incoming and outgoing electric field amplitudes in consecutive layers m
and m+1 are

i i
Em 1 E
= ------------------------- C m m + 1
r t( m – 1 ) ( m ) r
Em Em + 1

Where Cm is a 2-by-2 matrix:

C m, 11 C m, 12 exp ( – iδ m – 1 ) r ( m – 1 ) ( m ) exp ( – iδ m – 1 )
Cm = =
C m, 21 C m, 22 r ( m – 1 ) ( m ) exp ( iδ m – 1 ) exp ( iδ m – 1 )

where δm-1 is the phase shift within the layer, with δ0 = 0.

For a multilayer film containing Nt layers including N unit cells, the relationship
between the incoming and outgoing electric field amplitudes can be expressed using
the product of Nt + 1 matrices and Nt + 1 transmission coefficients:

N +1 –1 Nt + 1
E0
i  t    Ei
=  ∏ t ( m – 1 ) ( m ) 
∏ C m Nt + 1
r     r
E0 m = 1  m = 1  ENt + 1

To simplify the matrix multiplication, the product of the matrices can be expressed in
the form

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 143

 Nt + 1

∏ Cm
N
= C in ( C cell ) C out
m=1

where Cin is the product of the matrices for all layers prior to the unit cell, Cout is the
product of the matrices for all layers following the unit cell, and Ccell is the matrix for
all layers within one unit cell, including the interface between one unit cell and the
next. Next an eigenvalue decomposition is performed on Ccell:

C cell = XDX – 1

where D is a diagonal matrix with nonzero elements D11 and D22. The ratio of the
incoming and outgoing electric field amplitudes can then be expressed as

N +1 –1
E0
i  t  N
D 11 0
i
ENt + 1
=  ∏ t ( m – 1 ) ( m ) C in X X – 1 C out
r   N r
E0 m = 1  0 D 22 ENt + 1

r
Because there is no reflected ray beyond the last dielectric layer, E Nt + 1 = 0 and the
equivalent Fresnel coefficients of the multilayer film can now be obtained:

r
E0
r eq = ------i-
E0

i
ENt + 1
t eq = ----------------
i
-
E0

Grating Theory
The Grating feature releases secondary rays of arbitrary diffraction order. The angles
at which transmitted and reflected diffraction orders are released are those at which the
waves generated by successive unit cells interfere constructively with each other. A
transmitted wave of diffraction order m corresponds to an angle θm with the boundary
normal so that

mλ 0 = d ( n 2 sin θ m – n 1 sin θ i )

144 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

where λ0 is the vacuum wavelength, d is the grating constant, θi is the angle of
incidence, and n1 and n2 are the refractive indices on the incoming and outgoing sides
of the boundary, respectively. The corresponding relation for the reflected wave is

mλ 0 = dn 1 ( sin θ m – sin θ i )

Interference Pattern Theory

The Interference Pattern plot can be used to visualize the fringes resulting from the
interference of two or more rays at a surface. The interference pattern is only valid
when it is plotted over an area with a length scale that is much smaller than the
principal radius of curvature of any incident wavefront. This is a consequence of the
treatment of each ray as a wavefront that subtends a small solid angle.

Given the phase Ψ0 of a ray at the point (qx, qy) where the ray intersects a plane, the
phase Ψ at a nearby point (qx+Δx, qy+Δy) is computed as follows. Without loss of
generality assume that the x- and y-axes are oriented so that they are parallel to the
projections of the principal curvature directions onto the cut plane. For a spherical
wavefront, the orientations of these axes may be determined arbitrarily as long as they
are orthogonal. Let ni,x and ni,y denote the x- and y- components, respectively, of the
normalized ray direction vector. Let r1 and r2 denote the principal radii of curvature
in the directions parallel to the x- and y-axes, respectively. For an incident ray with
wave vector magnitude k, the phase at (qx+Δx, qy) is

Ψ ( q x + Δx, q y ) = Ψ ( q x, q y ) + kΔr 1

Where Δr1 is the change in the principal radius of curvature of the wavefront when
moving between the two points.

2 2 2 2
( r 1 + Δr 1 ) = [ r 1 – ( n i, x r 1 ) ] + ( n i, x r 1 + Δx )

Further simplification yields

2 2
Δr 1 = r 1 + 2n i, x r 1 Δx + Δx – r 1

This equation yields an indeterminate form in the limit of infinite radii of curvature,
making it unsuitable for computing interference patterns involving plane waves. The
equation can be made more robust for plane waves by applying a Taylor series
approximation about Δx=0,

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 145

 2 2 1 2 2 3
r 1 + 2n i, x r 1 Δx + Δx = r 1 + n i, x Δx + --------- ( 1 – n i, x )Δx + O ( Δx )
2r 1

Discarding terms of order Δx3 or higher yields

1 2 2
Δr 1 = n i, x Δx + --------- ( 1 – n i, x )Δx
2r 1

Similarly, the change in principal radius of curvature due to a small perturbation in the
y-direction is

1 2 2
Δr 2 = n i, y Δy + --------- ( 1 – n i, y )Δy
2r 2

The rationale for discarding higher-order terms is that they all involve division by
higher powers of r1 and r2. Therefore this series approximation is only valid when the
perturbations in the x- and y-directions are much smaller than the principal radii of
curvature. To assume otherwise would mean that the incident wavefronts subtend very
large solid angles.

Combining the perturbations in the two principal radii of curvature yields an

expression for the phase at any point (qx+Δx, qy+Δy) on the cut plane,

1 2 2 1 2 2
Ψ = Ψ 0 + k n i, x Δx + --------- ( 1 – n i, x )Δx + n i, y Δy + --------- ( 1 – n i, y )Δy
2r 1 2r 2

The incident Stokes vector is then converted to an incident electric field using the
relation

n ε
I = --- -----0- ( E ⋅ E∗ )
2 μ0

and the electric field at the intersection of the ray with the cut plane can be used to
compute the electric field at a nearby point using the relation

E ( q x + Δx, q y + Δy ) = E ( q x, q y ) exp [ Ψ ( q x + Δx, q y + Δy ) – Ψ 0 ]

where it is again assumed that the ray subtends a small solid angle so that the intensity
of the incident ray is approximately uniform over the region in which the interference

146 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

pattern is plotted. It is then straightforward to compute the sum of the electric fields
of all incident rays and derive the total incident intensity from the electric field norm.

Introduction to Geometrical Optics Modeling and Postprocessing Tools

Accumulator Theory: Domains

The Accumulator (Domain) node is used to transfer information from rays to the
domains they occupy or pass through. Each Accumulator defines a variable, called the
accumulated variable, in the selected domains. The accumulated variable is discretized
using constant shape functions, so its value is uniform over every mesh element and
may be discontinuous between adjacent mesh elements.

The name of the accumulated variable is specified in the Accumulated variable name edit
field in the Accumulator Settings section of the settings window. The default variable
name, rpd, will be used in the remainder of this section when referring to the
accumulated variable.

ACCUMULATOR TYPE
The options in the Accumulator type list are Density and Count. If Density is selected, the
source term is divided by the area or volume of the mesh element when calculating
each ray’s contribution to the accumulated variable. If Count is selected, no division by
the area or volume of the mesh element occurs.

The equations in the following section are valid for the Density type. The
corresponding value of the accumulated variable for the Count type is

rpd count = rpd density × V

where V is the mesh element volume (in 3D) or area (in 2D).

ACCUMULATION OVER ELEMENTS

When Elements is selected from the Accumulate over list, the value of the accumulated
variable in a mesh element is the sum of the source terms Ri evaluated for all rays in
that mesh element:

N
1
rpd = ----
V  Ri
i=1

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 147

 where N is the total number of rays in the element and V is the area or volume of the
mesh element. In other words, the contribution of each ray to the accumulated
variable is distributed uniformly over the mesh element the ray is in, regardless of the
ray’s exact position within the element.

If Elements and time is selected from the Accumulate over list, then the sum of the
source terms for rays in the mesh element is used to define the time derivative of the
accumulated variable, rather than its instantaneous value:

N
d ( rpd )- 1
------------------
dt
= ----
V  Ri
i=1

Thus the value of the accumulated variable depends on the time history of rays in the
mesh element, instead of the instantaneous positions of the rays. As each ray
propagates, it will leave behind a trail based on its contributions to the accumulated
variables in mesh elements it has traversed. The algorithm for accumulating over time
takes into account the fraction of a time step taken by the solver that the ray spends in
each mesh element, even if it crosses between elements during the time step.

Accumulator Theory: Boundaries

The Accumulator (Boundary) feature transfers information from rays to the
boundaries they hit or pass through. Each Accumulator defines a variable, called the
accumulated variable, on the selected boundaries. The accumulated variable is
discretized using constant shape functions, so its value if uniform over every mesh
element and may be discontinuous between adjacent mesh elements.

The name of the accumulated variable is specified in the Accumulated variable name edit
field in the Accumulator Settings section of the settings window. The default variable
name, rpb, will be used in the remainder of this section when referring to the
accumulated variable.

The options in the Accumulator type list are Density and Count. If Density is selected, the
source term is divided by the surface area or length of the boundary mesh element
when calculating each ray’s contribution to the accumulated variable. If Count is
selected, no division by the surface area or length of the boundary element occurs.

The equations in the following section are valid for the Density type. The
corresponding value of the accumulated variable for the Count type is

148 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 rpb count = rpb density × V

where V is the boundary element surface area (in 3D) or length (in 2D).

When Rays in boundary elements is selected from the Accumulate over list, the
accumulated variable in a boundary element gets incremented by the source term R
whenever a ray freezes or sticks to the boundary:

R
rpb new = rpb + ----
V

where division by the mesh element area or length occurs because the accumulator is
assumed to be of type Density. Thus the source term evaluated for an incident ray is
uniformly distributed over the boundary element it freezes or sticks to.

If instead Ray-wall interactions is selected from the Accumulate over list, then the
accumulated variable gets incremented regardless of what type of ray-wall interaction
occurs. Thus, it is possible for the same ray to increment the accumulated variable in
many different boundary elements, or even in the same element multiple times.

BUILT-IN GLOBAL VARIABLES

By default, the boundary Accumulator defines the following global variables:
TABLE 3-3: BUILT-IN GLOBAL VARIABLES FOR BOUNDARY ACCUMULATORS

NAME EXPRESSION

<scope>.<name>_ave Average of accumulated variable

<scope>.<name>_int Integral of accumulated variable
<scope>.<name>_max Maximum of accumulated variable
<scope>.<name>_min Minimum of accumulated variable
<scope>.<name>_sum Sum of accumulated variable over elements

Here, <scope> includes the physics interface name and the names the Accumulator
and parent feature. For example, the average of the accumulated variable over a
boundary may be called gop.wall1.bacc1.rpb_ave, where gop is the name of the
Geometrical Optics interface, wall1 is the name of the parent Wall node, bacc1 is the
name of the Accumulator node, and rpb is the accumulated variable name. These
variables are all available in the Add/Replace Expression menus during results evaluation.

THEORY FOR THE GEOMETRICAL OPTICS INTERFACE | 149

 These global variables are computed by defining a set of component couplings on the
selection of the parent physics feature, such as the Wall feature to which the
Accumulators are added. The following expressions for the global variables are used.
TABLE 3-4: BUILT-IN GLOBAL VARIABLE DEFINITIONS FOR BOUNDARY ACCUMULATORS

NAME EXPRESSION

<scope>.<name>_ave <wscope>.aveop(<scope>.<name>)
<scope>.<name>_int <wscope>.intop(<scope>.<name>)
<scope>.<name>_max <wscope>.maxop(<scope>.<name>)
<scope>.<name>_min <wscope>.minop(<scope>.<name>)
<scope>.<name>_sum <wscope>.intop(<scope>.<name>/<scope>.meshVol)

Here, <wscope> is the scope of the parent boundary feature, e.g. goprac.wall1.

References for the Geometrical Optics Interface

1. L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifshitz, The Classical Theory of Fields, 4th ed.,
Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1975.

2. M. Born and E. Wolf, Principles of Optics, 7th ed., Cambridge, 1999.

3. O.N. Stavroudis, The Optics of Rays, Wavefronts, and Caustics, Academic, 1972.

4. B.E.A. Saleh and M.C.Teich, Fundamentals of Photonics, Wiley, 1991.

5. R.M. More and K. Kosaka, “Wave-front curvature in geometrical optics”, Phys.

Rev. E, vol. 57, no. 5, pp. 6127–6134, 1998.

6. P.C.Y. Chang, J.G. Walker, and K.I. Hopcraft, “Ray tracing in absorbing media”, J.
Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer, vol. 96, pp. 327–341, 2005.

7. W. A. Shurcliff, Polarized Light: Production and Use, Harvard, 1962.

8. O. S. Heavens, Optical Properties of Thin Solid Films, Dover, 1991.

9. H. Anders, Thin Films in Optics, Focal Press, 1967.

10. D. Hestroffer and C. Magnan, “Wavelength dependency of the Solar limb

darkening”, Astron. Astrophysl, vol. 333, pp. 338–342, 1998.

150 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

The Ray Heating Interface
The Ray Heating interface ( ) combines the Geometrical Optics interface with the
Heat Transfer in Solids interface. The Ray Heat Source multiphysics feature is added
automatically. The Ray Heating interface is used to model electromagnetic wave
propagation in optically large systems in which the refractive index is temperature
dependent. The energy lost due to the attenuation of rays in an absorbing medium
creates a heat source that is included in the temperature computation.

When a predefined Ray Heating interface is added from the Optics>Ray Optics
branch ( ) of the Model Wizard or Add Physics windows, Geometrical Optics and Heat
Transfer in Solids interfaces are added to the Model Builder. A Multiphysics node is also
added, which automatically includes the multiphysics coupling feature Ray Heat Source.

On the Constituent Physics Interfaces

The Geometrical Optics interface is used to model electromagnetic wave propagation
when the wavelength is much smaller than the smallest geometric entity in the model.
It includes built-in tools for computing the intensity, phase, and optical path length of
rays. The rays can be polarized, unpolarized, or partially polarized. Frequency
distributions and ray propagation in absorbing media are also supported.

The Heat Transfer in Solids interface is used to model heat transfer by conduction,
convection, and radiation. A Heat Transfer in Solids model is active by default on all
domains and a Heat Transfer in Fluids model is added with an empty selection. All
functionality for including other domain types, such as a fluid domain, is also available.
The temperature equation defined in solid domains corresponds to the differential
form of the Fourier’s law that may contain additional contributions like heat sources.

SETTINGS FOR PHYSICS INTERFACES AND COUPLING FEATURES

When physics interfaces are added using the predefined couplings, for example Ray
Heating, specific settings are included with the physics interfaces and the coupling
features.

However, if physics interfaces are added one at a time, followed by the coupling
features, these modified settings are not automatically included.

THE RAY HEATING INTERFACE | 151

 For example, if single Geometrical Optics and Heat Transfer in Solids interfaces are
added, COMSOL adds an empty Multiphysics node. You can choose from the available
coupling features but the modified settings are not included.

Coupling features are available from the context menu (right-click the
Multiphysics node) or from the Physics toolbar, Multiphysics menu.

TABLE 3-5: MODIFIED SETTINGS FOR A RAY HEATING INTERFACE

PHYSICS INTERFACE OR MODIFIED SETTINGS (IF ANY)

COUPLING FEATURE

Geometrical Optics Compute intensity and power is selected from the

Intensity computation list in the physics interface Ray
Properties section.
Heat Transfer in Solids No changes.
Ray Heat Source The Domain Selection is the same as that of the
participating physics interfaces.
The corresponding Geometrical Optics and Heat
Transfer in Solids interfaces are preselected in the Ray
Heat Source section.

PHYSICS INTERFACES AND COUPLING FEATURES

Use the online help in COMSOL Multiphysics to locate and search all the
documentation. All these links also work directly in COMSOL
Multiphysics when using the Help system.

Coupling Features
The Ray Heat Source coupling feature node is described in this section.

Physics Interface Features

Physics nodes are available from the Physics ribbon toolbar (Windows users), Physics
context menu (Mac or Linux users), or right-click to access the context menu (all
users).

In general, to add a node, go to the Physics toolbar, no matter what

operating system you are using. Subnodes are available by clicking the
parent node and selecting it from the Attributes menu.

152 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

• The available physics features for The Geometrical Optics Interface are listed in the
section Domain, Boundary, and Global Nodes for the Geometrical Optics Interface.
• The available physics features for The Heat Transfer Interfaces are listed in the
sections Domain Features, Boundary Features, and Edge and Point Features in the
COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual.

Ray Heat Source

Use the Ray Heat Source multiphysics coupling ( ) to compute the heat source
resulting from the attenuation of rays in an absorbing medium. This heat source is
defined to a dependent variable that is defined on all domain mesh elements in the
selection of the Ray Heat Source node.

SETTINGS
The Label is the default multiphysics coupling name.

The Name is used primarily as a scope prefix for variables defined by the coupling node.
Refer to such variables in expressions using the pattern <name>.<variable_name>. In
order to distinguish between variables belonging to different coupling nodes or physics
interfaces, the name string must be unique. Only letters, numbers, and underscores (_)
are permitted in the Name field. The first character must be a letter.

The default Name (for the first multiphysics coupling in the model) is rhs1.

RAY HEAT SOURCE

This section defines the physics involved in the multiphysics coupling. By default, the
applicable physics interface is selected in the Source and Destination lists.

You can also select None from either list to uncouple the node from a physics interface.
If the physics interface is removed from the Model Builder then the applicable list
defaults to None as there is nothing to couple to.

If a physics interface is deleted and then added to the model again, and in
order to re-establish the coupling, you need to choose the physics
interface again from the Source or Destination lists. This is applicable to all
multiphysics coupling nodes that would normally default to the once
present physics interface. See Multiphysics Modeling Approaches in the
COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual.

THE RAY HEATING INTERFACE | 153

 Theory for the Ray Heating Interface
The Ray Heating Interface theory is described in this section:

• Unidirectional and Bidirectional Couplings

• Coupled Heat Transfer and Ray Tracing Equations
• Heat Source Calculation

Unidirectional and Bidirectional Couplings

The Ray Heating multiphysics interface combines geometrical optics with heat transfer
to compute the heat source that is generated as rays propagate through an absorbing
medium. The Ray Heating interface can either be used to set up a unidirectional or
bidirectional coupling between the constituent physics interfaces.

If the medium properties are not temperature dependent and the domains do not
undergo significant thermal expansion, then a unidirectional coupling is appropriate.
The heat source generated by the attenuation of rays can be included in the heat
transfer simulation by first computing the ray trajectories using a Ray Tracing study
step, then computing the temperature using a Stationary study step. Both study steps
are described in the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual.

If the refractive index of the medium is temperature dependent, a more accurate

approach is to set up a bidirectional coupling in which the attenuation of ray power
affects the temperature distribution, which in turn affects the ray trajectories. The two
physics can be solved for using an iterative solver loop consisting of a time-dependent
solver for the ray trajectories and a stationary solver for the temperature. Such a solver
sequence can be set up automatically using the Bidirectionally Coupled Ray Tracing
study step, also described in the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual.

Coupled Heat Transfer and Ray Tracing Equations

Under static conditions, the heat equation can be written as

ρC p u ⋅ ∇T + ∇ ⋅ q = Q

q = – k∇T

154 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

where

• ρ (SI unit: kg/m3) is the density,

• Cp (SI unit: J/(kg·K)) is the heat capacity at constant pressure,
• T (SI unit: K) is the temperature,
• Q (SI unit: W/m3) is the heat source, and
• k (SI unit: W/(m·K)) is the thermal conductivity.

The propagation of each ray can be modeled using a set of coupled first-order
equations:

∂ω
------- = ∂ω
dk dq
------- = – ------- -------
dt ∂q dt ∂k

where k (SI unit: rad/m) is the wave vector, ω (SI unit: rad/s) is the angular
frequency, t (SI unit: s) is time, and q (SI unit: m) is the ray position vector. In an
isotropic medium, the frequency and wave vector are related by the expression

ck
ω = ------------
n(q)

where c = 2.99792458 × 108 m/s is the speed of light in a vacuum and n

(dimensionless) is the refractive index. If the medium is absorbing, then the intensity
of the ray decreases and it deposits some power in the domain as it passes through. This
is described in greater detail in the section Attenuation Within Domains in Theory for
the Geometrical Optics Interface.

A bidirectional coupling between the Geometrical Optics and Heat Transfer interfaces
may be required for any of the following reasons:

• The refractive index is temperature dependent.

• The medium undergoes thermal expansion and the refractive index is strain
dependent.
• The medium undergoes thermal expansion, causing rays be reflected or refracted at
different angles when entering or leaving the medium.

When none of these conditions is met, the Geometrical Optics interface affects the
Heat Transfer interface, and a unidirectional coupling is sufficient.

THEORY FOR THE RAY HEATING INTERFACE | 155

 Heat Source Calculation
Consider a ray j transferring an amount of power Qj through a domain. During a small
time interval Δt, the ray propagates a short distance Δs from initial position qj to
position qj+Δqj and its power decreases. The deposited ray power in the domain
increases by an amount equal in magnitude to the power lost by the ray but opposite
in sign:

N
∂Q j
Q src ( r, t + Δt ) ≈ Q src ( r, t ) –  --------
∂t
- Δtδ ( r – q j )
j=1

where δ is the Dirac delta function. In the limit as this time derivative becomes
arbitrarily small, this expression can be rewritten as

N
dQsrc ∂Q j
--------------- = –
dt  --------
∂t
- δ ( r – qj )
j=1

In this expression, every ray is treated as an infinitesimally small point source. This can
lead to numerical issues because the heat source becomes infinitely large at the location
of each point source. In the following section an alternative expression for the domain
heat source is given.

C R E A T I N G A B O U N D E D H E A T S O U RC E TE R M
The Ray Heat Source node defines a variable for the contribution to the heat source
by rays in each mesh element. This variable is discretized using constant shape
functions that are, in general, discontinuous across boundaries between elements. For
a mesh element j with volume Vj the average heat source Qsrc,j changes according to
the expression

N
dQsrc 1 ∂Q j
--------------- = – -----
dt Vj  --------
∂t 
- δ ( r – q j ) dV
j=1

The integral on the right-hand side is a volume integral over element j. The resulting
time derivative of the heat source is the average value over the mesh element, which
may be written more concisely as

156 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS

 Nj
dQ src, j 1 ∂Q j
------------------- = – -----
dt Vj  --------
∂t
-
i=1

where the sum is taken over all rays that are within mesh element j.

THEORY FOR THE RAY HEATING INTERFACE | 157

158 | CHAPTER 3: RAY OPTICS
 4

Glossary

This Glossary of Terms contains modeling terms in a ray optics context. For
mathematical terms as well as geometry and CAD terms specific to the COMSOL
Multiphysics® software and documentation, see the glossary in the COMSOL
Multiphysics Reference Manual. For references to more information about a term,
see the index.

159
 Glossary of Terms
coherence The degree to which two rays interfere with each other, or to which a ray
may interfere with itself when subjected to a time delay.

diffraction order In a diffraction grating, an integer indicating the number of

wavelengths between waves emanating from adjacent unit cells before they
constructively interfere.

diffuse reflection Reflection at a surface in a random direction, following a probability

distribution based on Knudsen's cosine law.

Fresnel equations A set of equations for computing the reflection coefficients and
transmission coefficients for rays as they cross a boundary between two media with
different refractive indices.

geometrical optics The analysis of electromagnetic wave propagation through

electrically large domains by treating the electromagnetic waves as rays.

grating A periodic structure from which transmitted and reflected radiation can only
propagate in specific directions governed by the frequency of radiation and the size of
the unit cell.

intensity A measure of the energy density of an electromagnetic wave; for a plane

polarized wave, the intensity is equal to the magnitude of the time-averaged Poynting
vector.

monochromatic Llght Light of uniform frequency.

Mueller matrix A 4-by-4 matrix which can be multiplied by the Stokes vector to apply
the effects of various optical components to a ray.

optical path length The integral of refractive index along the ray trajectory. Over a
given time interval, the optical path length of a ray is equal to the distance the ray
would have propagated in a vacuum.

phase The quantity that indicates the variation of the instantaneous electric field with
respect to time and position.

160 | CHAPTER 4: GLOSSARY

plane of incidence For non-normal incidence of a ray at a surface, the unique plane
containing the surface normal and the incident ray direction vector. For normal
incidence, any plane containing the surface normal may be selected.

polarization A description of the orientation of the electric field for a polarized or

partially polarized ray, and for the way in which this electric field varies as the ray
propagates.

polarization, circular The state of polarization in which the electric field amplitude has
two orthogonal components of equal magnitude, with a phase shift of π/2 between
them, such that the electric field vector traces a helical pattern as the ray propagates.

polarization, linear The state of polarization in which the electric field only oscillates
within a single plane.

primary ray A ray that is released into a model independently of the trajectories of
other rays. Primary rays are created by release features.

principal curvature direction A unit vector which, together with the normal to a
surface, defines a plane in which one of the principal radii of curvature of a surface is
defined.

polychromatic light Light with a wide distribution of frequencies; typically the

variations in free-space wavelength are of the same order of magnitude as the average
free-space wavelength.

principal curvature The reciprocal of one of the principal radii of curvature of a

surface.

principal radii of curvature The maximum and minimum values of the radius of
curvature of curves that can be obtained via the intersection of a surface with a plane.

quasi-monochromatic light Light with a distribution of frequencies in which the

changes in free-space wavelength are much smaller than the average free-space
wavelength.

reflection coefficient A dimensionless coefficient that is used to compute the intensity

of reflected rays. At boundaries between media, reflection coefficients are computed
using the Fresnel equations.

G L O S S A R Y O F TE R M S | 161
 refractive index The ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in a
medium.

release feature A feature that releases a predetermined number of rays and assigns
initial values to dependent variables associated with the rays.

secondary ray A ray that is produced by the interaction of existing rays with a domain
or boundary feature. The degrees of freedom for all secondary rays are preallocated
when beginning to run a study.

Snell’s law The set of equations that indicates the directions in which reflected and
refracted rays will propagate when a ray interacts with a boundary between two media.

specular reflection Idealized reflection at a smooth surface in which the reflected ray
lies within the plane of incidence and the angles of incidence and reflection are equal.

Stokes parameters The four Stokes parameters completely characterize the intensity
and polarization of a fully polarized, partially polarized, or unpolarized ray. The Stokes
parameters can be interpreted as indicators of the ray intensity that would be measured
when sending a ray through various arrangements of polarizers and wave retarders.

transmission coefficient A dimensionless coefficient that is used to compute the

intensity of refracted rays at boundaries between media. Transmission coefficients are
computed using the Fresnel equations.

wave vector A vector in the direction of ray propagation, which indicates the spatial
dependence of the instantaneous electric field for coherent radiation.

wave number The magnitude of the wave vector, equal to ω/c, where ω is the angular
frequency and c is the speed of light in the medium.

wave retarder An optical component that applies a phase shift to radiation of a specific
polarization with respect to radiation of an orthogonal polarization.

162 | CHAPTER 4: GLOSSARY

I n d e x
A accumulator (node), boundaries 69 ray optics 87
accumulator (node), domains 85 inlet on axis (node) 91
accuracy order, of time stepping 60 intensity 57–59, 64, 67, 71, 81–82, 90
Allow frequency distributions at release intensity computation 21, 115–116
features 56, 75 interference 58
Application Libraries window 11 internet resources 9
application library examples
K knowledge base, COMSOL 12
sparse flow 24, 26
auxiliary dependent variable 68 L latitude 106

auxiliary dependent variable (node) 101 linear polarizer (node) 97

linear wave retarder (node) 98
C caustic surface 118
longitude 106
circular wave retarder (node) 99
common settings 9 M material discontinuity (node) 70

compute intensity 57 medium properties (node) 63

compute intensity and power 58 mixed diffuse and specular reflection,

compute intensity and power in graded wall condition 65

media 58 MPH-files 11

compute intensity in graded media 58 Mueller matrix (node) 100

Coupling Operators 49 multiphysics

ray heat source 153
D deposited ray power (node), boundaries
84 N nodes, common settings 9

deposited ray power (node), domains 84 nonlocal accumulator (node) 86

diffraction order (node) 96 O optical path length 59, 68

diffuse scattering 61
P pass through, wall condition 65
diffuse scattering, wall condition 65
phase 58
disappear, wall condition 65
photometric data import (node) 76
documentation 9
physics interfaces, common settings 9
E emailing COMSOL 12 plane of incidence 118

F freeze, wall condition 65 polarization 58

principal radii of curvature 118
G general reflection, wall condition 65
grating (node) 95 R random number generation 61, 68
ray continuity (node) 104
I ideal depolarizer (node) 98
ray heat source (node), multiphysics 153
illuminated surface (node) 93
ray index 28
inlet (node)
ray position 62

INDEX| 163
 ray properties (node) 75
ray termination (node) 108
ray termination, theory 132
reference intensity 59
refractive index 64
Refractive index of exterior domains 18,
56
release (node) 77
release from data file (node) 103
release from edge (node) 101
release from grid (node) 102
release from grid on axis (node) 103
release from point (node) 102
release from point on axis (node) 102

S secondary rays 57
solar radiation (node) 105
specular reflection, wall condition 65
standard settings 9
stick, wall condition 65
Stokes parameters 71
store ray status data 59
sun position 107

T technical support, COMSOL 12

thin dielectric film (node) 74
time zone 106
total number of rays 29
transmission probability 29

W wall (node)
ray optics 64
wall condition 65
wave vector 62
websites, COMSOL 12

164 | I N D E X