Control

Inputs / Description

Defaults

Logical Parent

Read-only.  Specifies the source's parent node on the tree.

Optical Sources

Name

Name of the source as it will appear on the tree view.

Solar Source (simple) N

Description

Description string that will be visible on the tree view.

Parameter Attributes

0

Irradiance at the source plane in units of W/m².  The total radiometric power of the source is determined by multiplying the irradiance by the area of the source aperture.  The spatial units of the source area are not required to be in units of meters.

1360

1

Specifies the number of random position samples within the source aperture from which rays will emit.

100

2

Specifies the number of rays emitting from each position (parameter 1).  The rays are generated randomly within a 0.267^o semi-angle cone about a forward propagation vector (parameter 6).  The 0.267^o semi-angle represents the angular subtense of the solar disc.

1

3

Defines the semi-width of the source aperture in the X direction.

0.5

4

Defines the semi-width of the source aperture in the Y direction.

0.5

5

Specifies the shape of the source aperture as either Ellipse/Circle or Rectangle/Square.

Ellipse/Circle

6

Vector specifying the forward propagation direction of the rays, about which rays will be emitted into a 0.267^o semi-angle cone. This vector can be entered using the Vector Entry Control interface and is used to define the relative orientation of the solar disk with respect to the source's local coordinate system.

0, 0, 1

To clarify the forward propagation vector control, consider the simple example below where the sun (effectively at infinity) illuminates an aperture on an otherwise opaque box.  The solar source will be used to represent the solar irradiance illuminating the aperture of the box.  In this configuration, the solar source will then be located in the plane of the aperture and with the same size as the aperture.

With the solar source model now located in the aperture of interest, the image below shows the raytrace of the source when its forward propagation vector is set to (0,0,1).  In this configuration, the rays are emitted from the solar source along its +Z axis and the sun appears to be in the sky in the -Z direction.

Now we change the source's forward propagation direction to be (0, 0.5, 0.866), which means that the ray bundle will propagate at a +30 degree angle in the YZ plane of the source's local coordinate system.  This inclination of the ray bundle can be seen in the image below, which still emits from the source's aperture.  Drawing a line backward along the ray bundle, through the source plane and out to infinity indicates the direction of the sun relative to the source node in this condition.

Wavelength Attributes

Random according to spectrum

In the following description, N is the number of ray positions in the source aperture (parameter 1) and M is the number of rays emitting from each point (parameter 2).

N*M random rays will be generated and each ray will have a unique wavelength whose value is selected by using the designated spectrum as a probability distribution.

Random according to spectrum

Source Draw Color

This setting controls the ray position and trajectory draw colors.

Polarization

Polarization

If checked, polarization data for the rays is maintained and stored.

Unchecked

Handedness

Sets the handedness of the polarization state (relevant for non-linear polarization states).  If the ray is propagating towards you, the electric field vector rotates in a clockwise direction for Right handedness and counter-clockwise for Left handedness.

Note that for linear polarization, the application of Left or Right handedness is arbitrary. The user may find that the UI display switches handedness depending on the angle of the linear polarization state entered, but this will have no impact on the resulting representation of the linear state.

Right

Ellipticity

Sets the ellipticity of the polarization state, 0 represents linear polarization and 1 represents circular.

0

Angle

Sets the angle of the polarization relative to the X axis.

90

OK

Accept settings and close dialog box.

Cancel

Discard settings and close dialog box.

Apply

Accept settings and keep dialog box open.

Help

Access this Help page.