Ray Optics Simulations with

COMSOL Multiphysics

Jennifer Segui
Technical Marketing Engineer
COMSOL

Copyright 2015 COMSOL. COMSOL, COMSOL Multiphysics, Capture the Concept, COMSOL Desktop, COMSOL Server,
and LiveLink are either registered trademarks or trademarks of COMSOL AB. All other trademarks are the property of
their respective owners, and COMSOL AB and its subsidiaries and products are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored
by, or supported by those trademark owners. For a list of such trademark owners, see www.comsol.com/trademarks

Christopher Boucher
Developer
COMSOL

Agenda
Why Simulate?
Simulating with COMSOL Multiphysics

The Multiphysics Approach

Live Demo
Thermally Induced Focal Shift

Q&A Session
How To
Try COMSOL Multiphysics
Contact Us

Ray Tracing in a Newtonian telescope

Why Simulate?
Conception and understanding
Enables innovation

Design and optimization

Achieve the highest possible
performance

Testing and verification

Virtual testing is much faster than
testing physical prototypes

Homogenization of an LED source by total internal

reflection within a bent light pipe.

Simulating with COMSOL Multiphysics

Electrical, mechanical,
fluid, and chemical
simulations
Multiphysics include and
couple all relevant physical
effects
Single physics in one
integrated environment
Cross-disciplinary product
development

All Industries Benefit from

Multiphysics Simulation

Metamaterials Make Physics Seem Like Magic

Metamaterials have complex structures that are able to shield objects from wave
phenomena with countless applications and design obstacles
COMSOLs tools enable creative and quick testing of new ideas that would be much
more difficult, time-consuming, and expensive to test in the lab
COMSOL News 2012: J. Wilson, NASA Glen Research Center, Cleveland, OH, USA
G. Karunasiri & F. Alves, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA
D. Smith & Y. Urzhumov, Duke University, Durham, NC

Aporous
metamaterial shell
that eliminates a
wake in subsurface
flow

Extract from COMSOL News 2012

2012 COMSOL. All rights reserved.

Unidirectional acoustic
cloak based on quasiconformal
transformation optics

Nanoresonators Get New Tools for

their Characterization

Investigate the electromagnetic properties of nanoresonators and predict the

interactions between a resonator and its environment
Simulate excitation modes, and use results to determine physical properties such
as scattering, absorption, and radiation parameters
IEEE Spectrum Multiphysics Simulation Insert 2014 : Jianji Yang1, Matthias Perrin2,
and Philippe Lalanne1, National Centre for Scientific Research, Paris, France

COMSOL simulation showing the electric field

radiated by a nanoresonator.
Extract from IEEE Spectrum Multiphysics Simulation Insert 2014
2014 COMSOL. All rights reserved.

Simulation results showing the intensity of the electric field and

flux around a silver sphere of radius 20nm.
1 Laboratoire Photonique, Numrique et Nanosciences
2 National Centre for Scientific Research

Poll Question #1
How many software tools do you currently
use for ray tracing simulations?

None
One
Two
Three or more

A Complete Simulation Environment

COMSOL Desktop
Straightforward to
use, the Desktop
gives insight and full
control over the
modeling process

Model Builder
Provides instant
access to any of the
model settings
CAD/Geometry
Materials
Physics
Mesh
Solve
Results

Graphics Window
Ultrafast graphic presentation,
stunning visualization

Product Suite COMSOL 5.0

Application Design Tools

Application Builder
Provides all the tools
needed to build and
run simulation apps
Form Editor
Method Editor

Simulation Application
Any COMSOL model can be turned into an
app with its own interface using the tools
provided in the Application Builder

Run Applications
COMSOL Server
Its the engine for
running COMSOL
apps and the hub for
controlling their
deployment,
distribution, and use

Simulation Apps
They can be run in a COMSOL Client for
Windows and major web browsers
Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks
of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Electrical Simulations
AC/DC current and field distribution
Electromechanical machinery and electrical
circuits
RF and microwave components
Wave propagation in optical media

Magnetic field in a Helmholtz coil

Microstrip patch antenna array

Electrical Simulations

MEMS devices and sensors

Low temperature plasma reactors
Semiconductor devices
Ray tracing in optically large systems

Prestressed micromirror

Inductively coupled plasma reactor

The Ray Optics Module

For Ray Tracing Simulations in
Optically Large Systems

Overview of Ray Optics Simulation

Ray optics vs wave optics

Ray properties
Boundary conditions
Ray release features
Dedicated multiphysics
functionality
Results and visualization
Solar radiation is reflected by a parabolic mirror.
The incident flux on a small receiver is computed.

Electromagnetic Wave Simulation

Electromagnetic Waves, Frequency

Domain

Fixed
Mesh

Shortening Wavelength

RF or Wave Optics Module

Mesh must resolve wavelength
Full-wave solution: Solves Maxwells
Equations

Electromagnetic Waves, Beam Envelopes

Wave Optics Module

Mesh need not resolve wavelength
Must know direction of propagation
For modelling waveguides or fibers

Geometrical Optics

Ray Optics Module

Approximate method for small wavelengths
Mesh need not resolve wavelength
Direction of propagation not required

Failure to
Resolve Waves

Geometrical Optics
Geometrical optics can be used to model electromagnetic
wave propagation in optically large structures.
Electromagnetic waves are treated as rays.
Advantages:
Mesh can be very large compared to wavelength.
Wave propagation can be modeled over extremely long
distances.
Support for frequency distributions and varying degrees of
polarization.

Requirements:
Wavelength must be much smaller than the smallest detail in the
geometry.
Diffraction at sharp edges and corners is negligible.

Ray Optics vs RF/Wave Optics

RF or Wave Optics
Full-wave formulation
is required to model
propagation around
small objects.

Ray Optics
Ray paths are not
strictly solutions to a
wave equation.
Diffraction is not
included.

Key Application Areas

Building science
Imaging
Cameras, telescopes, microscopes

Laser systems
Solar power

Spectrometers

Ray trajectories in an assembly of a beam splitter with two

adjustable mirrors, used in a Michelson interferometer.

Key Features
Ray tracing in homogeneous and graded
media.
Analysis of ray intensity and polarization.
Variety of features for releasing rays and
controlling interaction with boundaries.
Dedicated boundary conditions to
manipulate ray polarization.
Multiphysics couplings to model thermal
effects.
Dedicated study step and postprocessing
tools.

Ray Tracing with the Geometrical

Optics Interface

Solves for:

Ray position q
Wave vector k

Can trace rays in

homogeneous or graded
media.
Additional equations can
be defined and solved for
each ray.
Built-in calculation of ray
intensity, curvature,
optical path length, etc.

Ray trajectories in the graded medium of a Luneburg lens.

Intensity Computation
Rays are treated as
wavefronts that
converge or diverge.
Wavefront radii of
curvature are
computed for each
ray.
Intensity can be
computed accurately
regardless of the
number of rays used.

Pictoral representation of the two principal radii of curvature

of an advancing wavefront (top). Sign conventions for
wavefront radii of curvature (bottom).

Intensity Variables
Stokes parameters
are used to store
information about
ray polarization.
At boundaries:
Stokes parameters
are reset based on
polarization of the
incident ray.
Radii of curvature
are reinitialized
based on surface
curvature.

Principal radius of curvature (left) and the log of intensity (right) for a
bundle of rays crossing a material discontinuity.

Frequency Distributions
It is possible to assign a
unique frequency value for
each ray, allowing
polychromatic light to be
modeled.
Built-in options to sample
frequency from a normal,
log-normal, or uniform
distribution
A list of numerical values
can be entered directly.
Rays can be separated using
dispersive media or
diffraction gratings.

A prism with a frequency-dependent refractive index separates

polychromatic light into distinct colors.

More Built-in Variables

Phase calculation
Instantaneous electric field
can be plotted for polarized
rays.
Can be used to view
interference patterns.

Optical path length

calculation
Defines a variable for the
optical path length of each
ray.

Ray trajectories in a corner cube retroreflector.

The color indicates the optical path length.

Poll Question #2
Are you primarily interested in modeling:
Thermal applications (Laser heating, solar power, etc.)
Imaging applications (cameras, spectrometers, etc.)
Other

 Three settings for

absorption of rays at a
boundary:

Dissappear

Wall Conditions
Freeze: retain position q and
wave vector k.
Stick: retain q only.
Disappear: retain nothing.

Pass through
General reflection
Reflection in a user-defined
direction.

Dissappear

For transparent boundaries.

Wall Conditions, Continued

Specular reflection Uses the curvature
of the surface to update the curvature
of the wavefront.
Diffuse scattering Reflect in a random
direction using Lamberts cosine law.
Mixed diffuse and specular reflection
Assign a probability of specular
reflection.

Material Discontinuity
Default interior
boundary condition.
Creates reflected and
refracted rays based
on Snells Law.
Updates wavefront
curvature based on
the shape of the
surface.
Updates intensity
using the Fresnel
Equations.

Caustic surfaces generated by rays passing through the

material discontinuities on either side of a lens.

Coatings on Material Discontinuities

Thin dielectric layers
can be added to
material discontinuities.
Single-layer and
multilayer films are
supported.
Use these layers to
model:
Anti-reflective coatings
Distributed Bragg
reflectors
Beam splitters

Analysis of a multilayer antireflective coating. The reflectance of two

different coatings is plotted over a range of vacuum wavelengths.

Diffraction Gratings
Release transmitted
and reflected rays of
diffraction order 0.
Option to add any
number of higher
diffraction orders.
Transmittance and
reflectance of each
diffraction order can
be set separately.
Analysis of polychromatic light by two mirrors and a grating in
a crossed Czerny-Turner configuration.

Other Boundary Conditions

Optical devices

Linear polarizers
Linear wave retarders
Circular wave retarders
Ideal depolarizers
User-defined Mueller
matrices for custom
optical devices
Effects of the Linear Polarizer (top) and Circular Wave
Retarder (bottom) boundary conditions on ray polarization.

Releasing Rays
Domain-based release
Based on mesh elements
or user-defined density.

Mesh-based release

Release from boundaries

Rays can inherit the
wavefront curvature of the
surface.

Boundary-based release

Release from a grid of

points
Initial direction can be
based on solar position.

Grid-based release

Illuminated Surfaces
Rays can be directly released
from an illuminated surface.
Options for specifying
incident ray direction:
Plane wave
Point source
Based on solar position

No shadowing effects.
Corrections for finite source
diameter, surface
roughness, and solar limb
darkening.

Comparison of a grid-based release with a Specular reflection

wall condition (left) to the Illuminated Surface (right).

Initial Intensity and Polarization

Rays can be assigned a degree of polarization.
Rays can be linearly, circularly, or elliptically polarized.

Propagation of a circularly polarized ray through a series of linear wave retarders.

Accumulators
It is possible to communicate information from rays to the
domains they pass through or the boundaries they hit.
Features called Accumulators define variables that can be affected
by rays.
Dedicated accumulators are available for generating heat source
terms on domains and boundaries.
Accumulated
variables on
domains (left)
and boundaries
(right).

Using Accumulators
Each Accumulator creates
one degree of freedom
per mesh element.
Accumulation can occur at
the end point of the ray or
along its entire path.
Built-in option to create
density terms by dividing
by the mesh element
volume or area.

Propagation of rays (top) and the

corresponding change in an accumulated
variable defined on the domain (bottom).

Ray Optics with Heat Transfer

It is possible for rays to
generate a heat source
term as they pass through
absorbing media.
Energy lost by the rays is
dissipated as heat.
Unidirectional or oneway coupling between
rays and temperature field.

Ray Optics

A ray passes through a slab of an absorbing

material and raises its temperature.

Coupling: Ray
Power Attenuation

Heat Transfer

Bidirectional Couplings
The heat source from ray attenuation can affect ray trajectories via:
Temperature dependence of the refractive index.
Strain dependence of the refractive index.
Physical deformation of the geometry.

When we consider these effects, the rays change the temperature,

which in turn perturbs the rays.
We speak of a bidirectional or two-way coupling.
Temperature-dependent refractive indices
Geometrical Optics
Deformation

Attenuation

Solid Mechanics

Heat Transfer

Thermal Stress

Ray Tracing Study Step

Ray Trajectories are computed
in the time domain.
With the Ray Tracing study
step, the range of times can
either be specified directly or
in terms of maximum optical
path length.
Built-in stop conditions can end
the study early if all rays are no
longer active.

Ray Trajectories Plot

Plot ray trajectories as lines or tubes.
Plot current ray positions using
points, arrows, or comet tails.
Apply deformations or color
expressions to the ray trajectories.
Use filters to view only a subset of
rays.
Plot data can easily be exported to a
file.

Caustic surfaces generated by rays .

Ray Plot

Plot a ray property versus time for all rays, or plot two ray properties against each
other at selected time steps.
When plotting over time, use data series operations to compute the following
quantities over all rays:

Average
Sum
RMS
Maximum
Minimum
Standard deviation
Variance

The ray plot is used to visualize the

reflectance of a distributed Bragg reflector as
the number of dielectric layers is increased.

Interference Patterns
Plot the interference fringes resulting from the
intersection of coherent rays with a plane.
The solid angles subtended by the wavefronts are
assumed to be small.

Interference fringes from two spherical waves with different radii of curvature
(left) and from two plane waves with different angles of incidence (right).

Ray Evaluation
Create data tables that can be plotted or exported to files.

Other Visualization Tools

Poincar maps
Phase portraits

A Poincar map (right) is created

when ray trajectories intersect a
cut plane after passing through a
lens (bottom).

Demo: Thermally Induced Focal Shift

A high-powered laser is
focused onto a target by
two convex lenses.
Due to thermal effects,
the focus changes
position as the power of
the laser system
increases.
This example includes
temperature-dependence
of the refractive index
and deformation of the
lenses.

Further Resources
Introduction to COMSOL Multiphysics
The COMSOL Desktop
Step-by-Step Tutorials
Structural Analysis of a Wrench includes mesh convergence analysis
The Busbar A Multiphysics Model

Advanced Topics

Parameters, functions, variables, and couplings

Material properties and the Material Library
Adding meshes, physics, and parametric sweeps
High-performance computing

Building a Geometry
Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts
http://www.comsol.com/shared/downloads/IntroductionToCOMSOLMultiphysics.pdf

Q&A Session

Product Suite COMSOL 5.0

Try COMSOL Multiphysics

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