Abstract

In today’s workplace, the personal computer and spreadsheet have become commonplace, while lens design software, often costing more than the computer, is not. Any one of the generic spreadsheet programs can be an effective ray tracing tool. Anyone who has developed ray tracing software has found that the input/output problem can often be more difficult than the algorithms for ray tracing. The advancement in today’s spreadsheets has eliminated the need for sophisticated programming skills to produce usable ray tracing functions. The worksheet developed combines third-order ray tracing with aproximate polarization equations. Useful graphic functions can be developed for displaying the third-order surface contributions and the polarization change for each surface. Examples of the macros developed are shown. A demonstration of a double Gauss ray trace is given. These macros can also be a useful tool for those with high powered lens design software. The macros are designed so that a lens can be set up in the spreadsheet and used as the input to commercially available lens design software.

© 1988 Optical Society of America