Object-oriented optical design

Classic optical design software typically uses lists to hold the description of the optical system. The rays start at the object plane and sequentially interact with the surfaces in the list until they hit the image plane. In addition, non-sequential raytracers exist. These allow the calculation of arbitrary optical paths through the system and are therefore more flexible. However, compared to sequential raytracing significantly more computing power is needed and the wavefront information is lost. We will present a novel approach that combines the advantages of both worlds. It is based on an object-oriented implementation of the optical system description which is strictly separated from the optical path to be calculated. This leads to several advantages compared to list type data structures. For instance stray light and ghost analyses as well as the calculation and optimization of system tolerances can be implemented much more efficiently. Furthermore, there are great advantages when working with optical systems in which multiple optical paths are of interest (e.g. interferometry) or the optical path is folded (e.g. off-axis/free-form telescopes and spectrometers).