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Point Source (coherent)

 

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Description


The Point Source (coherent) type Source Primitive approximates the spherical wave emitted by a point source over a requested semi-angle.  Emitting from a single point, rays are generated that sample the requested semi-angle using a hexagonal grid in angle space.  Figure 1, below,  shows rays emitting from a point source with subtended half angle Q.  Figure 2 shows the irradiance distribution formed on the plane a short distance away from the point source, where the hexagonal shape of the hexagonal sampling pattern is evident.  The schematic in Figure 3 shows a representation of the corresponding ray sampling at the plane where the analysis is performed.  As the sampling density of the rays is increased, the footprint of the hexagonal sampling will become less apparent.  In this construction, the irradiance distribution at the point source location will show an Airy function corresponding to the NA of the specified emission angle.

 

 

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

 

 

 

Navigation


This feature can be accessed in the following ways:

Menu > Create > Source Primitive > Point Source (coherent)

Right mouse click on the Optical Sources folder, select Create New Source Primitive > Point Source (coherent)

Toolbar button:

 

 

Controls


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.

Point Source (coherent) N

Description

Description string that will be visible on the tree view.

 

Parameter Attributes

0

Total power of the source specified in units of Watts.

1.0

1

Specifies the number of angular samples within the subtended semi-angle.  Each angular sample defines a hexagonal ring as depicted in Figure 3 of the Description section.

5

2

Subtended semi-angle of emission specified in degrees.

10

Wavelength Attributes

Single or List

When the Single wavelength option is selected, the coherent field will be generated at the requested wavelength.

 

When the List wavelength option is selected, a spherical wave will be generated at each of the specified wavelengths with non-zero weights.

Single at the default wavelength

Source Draw Color

If the Single wavelength option is selected, this setting controls the ray position and trajectory draw colors.

 

If the List wavelength option is selected, this setting only controls the ray position draw color. Ray trajectory draw color is controlled by the color specifications in the wavelength List for each wavelength.

 

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.

 

 

 

Related Topics


Source Primitives

Plane Wave (coherent)

Laser Beam (00 mode)

Astigmatic Gaussian Beam

Laser Diode Beam (coherent)

M-Squared Laser Beam (coherent)

 

 

 

 

 

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