edtmacro

Edit macro

By Edit /Edit coating/Edit macro command menu, you can create the main editing window of the optical coatings. This windows contains the following editing fields:

Coating name - Edit coating name (40 bytes)
Incidence angle - Edit light incidence angle on optical coating expressed in degrees. When the incidence angle is changed (for making the edited value effective, it is necessary that this field should lose its focussing), the analysis windows are updated. WARNING ! The structure of optical coating is written for the old value of the incidence angle. If the window is closed and open again, then the coating structure is updated for this incidence angle.
Incidence light polarizing state - The definition of the incidence light polarizing state: unpolarized, linearly polarized, eliptically polarized.
Polarizing plane angle - when incident light is:
Linearly polarized - defines the angle between the incidence plane and the polarization plane;
elliptically polarized - defines the angle between the incidence plane and the major axis of the ellipse.
Optical coating materials - The materials used in optical coating are defined. Ten (10) materials are available (also including incidence medium and substratum). The materials for thin layers are coded by letters from A to H. The incidence medium is symbolized by M and the substrate by S. These codifying letters are used to describe the optical coating structure. It is not compulsory that all the loaded materials should be included into coating. When these fields are focussed, the button Load material and Edit material are activated. When the coating contain more that 10 materials under edit material fields appear blinking lines.

WARNING ! Nu puteti utiliza un material neomogen fara a avea definit cel putin un strat. Programul verifica sumar constantele optice ale materialului neomogen folosing grosimea geometrica a primului strat. At the beginning use homogeneous materials, create coating, and then put non-homogeneous materials.

Optical coating structure - This area includes the editing fields for the amounts defining the optical coating structure:

Structure - Optical coating described by a row of characters such as

n(k₁X k₂Y ...)

where:
X, Y, ... optical coating materials: A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H, M - incidence medium, S - substrate;
k_i - layer optical thickness / U.M
n - number of how many times the group within the brackets is repeated;

WARNING ! On a definition line of structure, no more than16 litters (identical on not) must exist. The field length of a coating structure line is of 128 bytes. Each non-qurter wavelength layer is represented by 8 characters (##.###X_). If coating structure is more complex then it will be divided on more lines.

Lambda - Wavelength used to define the unit of measure expressed in nm. When is used Needle optimization technique, it is recommended to use one wavelength for all fields.
U.M. - Unit of measure used to describe the optical coating structure; allowed values:
1/4 - Lambda/4;
1/2 - Lambda/2;
1/1 - Lambda.: When incidence angle is different from zero, the unit of measure is corrected for the light incidence angle in layers, e.g. the geometrical thickness x_i of the layer i is given by the relation:

where: n_i - refraction index of i layer;
a_i - incidence angle in i layer.
When there is total reflection in a layer or there is a metal (n < 1), geometrical thicknesses are generated for normal incidence.
Ex.: 0.524A B 1.123A 6(A B) A ; 1.554B Comentariu
As you can notice the above-mentioned example, the character ; make the comment for all the characters following after it. The sign ; is useful when we have a complex coating and we want to design parts of coating, following that in the end to assemble all the coating.: WARNING ! In the case of non-homogeneous materials A + A ą 2A
When the optical coating contain more than six (6) structures, under structure fields appear blinking lines.

Generate - By "pushing" this button you can generate the optical coating. This button becomes active (it can be used) when a minimum of editing of editing fields that are describing a coating, are completed. WARNING ! Generating coating, all the layers are put at standard parameters . All the group become variable. Only by this command, within this window, the layer geometrical thicknesses and grouping are going to be changed, e. g. when the incidence angle is changed, the coating structure is updated without changing the geometrical thicknesses.

Close - the window is closed.

Load material - You can command to load a material whose name is editing (it is focussed). This button is active when focussing is on one of the material editing fields. After load material and if this material is present inside the coating, the editing and analysis windows are updated (also including the optical coating structure that belongs to the window).

Edit material - You can change the optical constants of the selected material (which are the focus). It can be also used for non-initialized materials (loaded from files) to edit the user's specified parameters. This button is active when focussing is on one of the material editing fields. After edit material and if this material is present inside the coating, the editing and analysis windows are updated (also including the optical coating structure that belongs to the window).

Help - Access to information concerning the editing mode of optical coatings

REMARK. When coating contains a non-homogeneous material described by a nonstandard relationship for application and the geometrical thickness of that layer (non-homogeneous material) is big, it is better to edit the coating by Edit/Edit coating/Edit layers. Whit Edit macro operation can become a great time consumer.

Load a material

By pressing the button Load material the window shown in Fig 1. is created.

Fig. 1

This window is common for Load material and Edit material. For Load material the following fields must be completed:

Name - loaded optical material name. It also can be BK* meaning to search all materials beginning with BK… out of which the loaded material will be selected.

Memorize n and k - when the material dispersion cannot be described by an equation, there are loaded the optical constants n and k at different wavelength. The optical constants are calculated by linear interpolation. For spectral ranges outside that one defined by points, the values for minimum or maximum wavelength are to be taken.

By pressing Cancel search material is stopped. If you press OK, the window shown in Fig. 2 is created.

Fig. 2

The optical materials can be searched either in file STICLE32.DAT or in a text file where materials are described. When search STICLE32.DAT is selected by pressing OK the window shown in Fig. 3 is created.

Fig. 3

If the material is in STICLE32.DAT then the line with searched material is selected from the list of displayed materials. If the material name is of BK* type, then only materials beginning with BK… are in the list. The wanted material is selected. Even in this window you can put the material name of BK* type and press the button Read. After you have read out the material, activate Parameters button by means of which the parameters of the selected material are displayed. To close the window, press OK. After you have pressed OK proceed to edit the material optical constants.

If in the window of Fig. 2, you chose the searching the text file, a open standard window is created. After you have selected the file, load the material of the text file. WARNING ! Check up the correctness of the material parameter description.

Change of material optical constants

By pressing Edit material you begin editing process of the material optical constants. The created window is shown in Fig 1. By means of this window, you can change the type of the dispersion equation. If material is not dispersive, you can choose nondispersive, because the number of operations is reduced in computing the optical constants. By pressing OK you can create window for editing the optical constants depending on dipersion equations for material. The standard dispersion window is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4

By means of these window you can edit the dispersion equation coefficients for n and k. The dispersion equation type is displayed. By changing the dispersion equation coefficients, you can update the displayed values for optical constants. WARNING ! When n or k values are illegal, you can hear a BEEP and the displayed values are zero. Insert the spectral range for which the dispersion equation is valid. This spectral range can have an influence on the aspect of the analysis windows when the spectral range on which the analysis is done, surpasses the validity spectral range for the dispersion equation of used materials.

If the material optical constants are given by points, then the window of Fig. 5 appears.

Fig. 5.

The wavelength are in nm and must be in an increasing order compactly written (without zero separating fields). You must not complete all the fields. WARNING ! In the spectral regions where dispersion is great, the number of points of that spectral range must be greater. ATENTION ! The interpolation is linearly.