Change log

Updates for Ver3.4.0

New Features

Group Delay and Dispersion

Group delay calculation is now supported.
In the calculation of group delay, differentiation also includes the optical constants (the dispersion formulas of n and k).
Numerical differentiation (finite difference) with large errors is not used.

Improvements

Phase

The phase display range can now be selected as either 0° to 360° or -180° to 180°.
Select this option in [Tools]-[Options]-[Phase and Group Delay].

Spectrophotometer Data File Import

Added support for importing UDSS files from Hitachi's new spectrophotometer software, UV-Solutions Plus (also supports .txt files).

Numerical Data

Spectrophotometer data and user line data are now displayed in the numerical data view.
(Displays values linearly interpolated based on the calculation range and interval.)
The average value for Phase (angle) in Numerical Data is now calculated using the vector sum.

Dispersion Data Graph

The dispersion data graph now reflects dn and dk values.
You can toggle their display on or off from the graph toolbar.

Optimization

Windows sleep is now prevented during optimization.

Improved Calculation Accuracy for Substrates and Stack Media with Nonzero Extinction Coefficients (k)

The calculation method for back side characteristics and Stack calculations has been changed to one that does not use the angle of refraction.
The method for calculating the incident angle from the back side has been changed to use the wave vector instead of the complex angle of refraction (used only for graph display).

Stack

You can now select the calculation method for cases where the substrate or medium within a stack has a nonzero extinction coefficient (k).
Select this option in [Tools]-[Options]-[Stack].

Evaporation Control

The attenuation calculation for the Substrate has been changed to use internal transmittance (Ti) instead of the extinction coefficient (k).

Miscellaneous

Added keyboard shortcuts for menu commands and other items.

Bug fixes

Fixed an issue where optimization of transmission phase was not possible.
Fixed an issue in the n and k analysis of single-layer film where an error occurred if the start of the analysis range for 'n' was set near 0.
Fixed other minor issues.

Latest version download (customers only)

Updates for Ver3.3.7

Bug fixes

Made improvements to reduce errors in global search and needle search during optimization.
Made improvements to reduce out-of-memory errors during optimization when the number of target data points is extremely large.
Fixed a bug that prevented the selection of a series in the incidence angle chart in freehand mode during optimization.
Fixed a bug that prevented the switching of the calculation method for phase difference (dFr, dFt) ([Options]-[Other]) from working.

Updates for Ver3.3.6

Bug fixes

Fixed a bug in [n and k analysis] - [Calculate refractive index of substrate without absorption] that prevented calculation of the refractive index from reflectance measurements including both surfaces, or from transmittance measurements, at oblique incidence.

Updates for Ver3.3.5

Bug fixes

Fixed a bug that caused an error during needle search when a stack included an uncoated surface.

Updates for Ver3.3.4

Bug fixes

Fixed a bug that caused an error when adding a material in the needle search parameters window.
Fixed a bug that caused an error when a design included an extremely thick absorbing film.

Improvement

Improved calculation speed.
The needle search algorithm has been slightly changed.

Updates for Ver3.3.3 Demo

Bug fixes

Fixed a bug where an error occurred when the angle of incidence was 45 degrees or more.

Updates for Ver3.3.2

Bug fixes

Fixed a bug that caused an error when the number of repetitions or the thickness multiplier of a repeated layer group was changed while the stack window was open.
Fixed a bug that caused an error when a repeated layer group had a very large number of repetitions (several thousand).

Updates for Ver3.3.1

Bug fixes

Fixed a bug that caused an error when inhomogeneity was selected in n and k analysis of a single-layer film.
Fixed a bug that changed the Home position of the layer thickness slider when the Apply button in the main window was pressed.
The display characters have been slightly modified.

Updates for Ver3.3.0

Spectral variables and units

The following spectral variables and units are now supported.

R, T, A units

You can now select units for reflectance (R), transmittance (T), and absorptance (A).

Optical density

Added support for optical density (OD) calculation.

Units of layer thickness

Added μm and mm to the physical layer thickness units.

Bug fixes

Fixed an issue where an error would occur in regions where a decimal separator other than a period was used.
Fixed a bug where digits from the second decimal place onward were ignored when entering substrate or medium thicknesses in a stack.
Fixed a bug where an error would occur when the number of layers was large (about several thousand layers).
Fixed other minor bugs.

Functional improvements and specification changes

The "Deviation" in the optimization results has been changed to "Merit (merit function)".
\(Merit = \sqrt{ {1 \over N} \sum_{i=1}^{N}(T_i-T'_i)^2 } \)
N: Number of targets, T_i: Calculated value, T'_i: Target value
\(Merit = Deviation / \sqrt{ N } \)

Almost all values, not just the layer thickness, can be changed using the mouse wheel.
This is disabled by default to prevent incorrect operations.
[Tools] - [Options] - [Others] - Check "Enable change value with mouse wheel" to use it.
[Tools] - [Options] - [SlideBar and buttons] - "Uses a film thickness change slide bar. "

Updates for Ver3.2.7

Fixed a bug that caused incorrect results to be displayed during stack optimization when the same coating design or uncoated surfaces were specified more than once.

Updates for Ver3.2.6

Improved fitting performance for n and k analysis of substrate and single-layer film.

Updates for Ver3.2.5

Fixed a bug in version 3.2.4 that prevented copying and pasting with Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V in main window cells.

Updates for Ver3.2.4

Fixed a bug that caused an error when the optimization target input type was Continuous(IncidentAngle).
Fixed a bug that caused the layout of the user line window to shift gradually.
Added support for importing Olympus USPM-RU-W CSV files as spectrophotometer data.

Updates for Ver3.2.1

Fixed a bug where the xy value was plotted when the a*b* chromaticity diagram was selected in the manufacturing error analysis graph.
Fixed a bug that caused an error in color calculations when Ra, Rp, or other options were unchecked in the stack window.

What's new in Ver3.2

n and k calculation for substrate and film

It is now possible to calculate the nk of substrates and metal films.
The following 4 types of calculations can be performed.

1. Calculate refractive index of substrate without absorption
   Calculate the refractive index of an uncoated, non-absorbing substrate from its single-surface reflectance, total reflectance from both surfaces, or transmittance.
2. Calculate refractive index, extinction coefficient and internal transmittance of substrate
   Calculate the refractive index, extinction coefficient, and internal transmittance of an uncoated, absorbing substrate from reflectance or transmittance measurements. Measurements of both a substrate with one matte surface and a substrate polished on both sides are required.
3. n and k analysis of single-layer film
   Determines the refractive index (n), extinction coefficient (k), and thickness (d) of a single-layer film by fitting calculated spectral reflectance and transmittance to measured data using dispersion formulas.
   Added an option to analyze only normal dispersion (dispersion in which the refractive index increases as the wavelength becomes shorter).
   Front reflectance, back reflectance, and transmittance data can now be analyzed together even if their wavelengths and numbers of measurement points differ.
4. Calculate n and k of single-layer metal film
   Calculate n and k of the metal film from reflectance measured from the front and back sides. The metal film must be thick enough to have zero transmittance.

Dispersion formula

Two types of dispersion formula have been added.

• SellmeierX1
  \[n(λ) = \sqrt{ 1 + {A_0λ^2 \over λ^2-{A_3}^2} + {A_1λ^2 \over λ^2-{A_4}^2} + {A_2λ^2 \over λ^2-{A_5}^2} } \]
• Forouhi-Bloomer
  \[n(E) = n(∞) + {B_0E+C_0 \over E^2 - BE + C} \] \[k(E) = {A(E-E_g)^2 \over {E^2 - BE + C}} \] \[B_0 = {A \over Q}{({-B^2 \over 2} + E_gB - {E_g}^2 + C)} \] \[C_0 = {A \over Q}{\left(({E_g}^2 + C){B \over 2}-2E_gC\right)} \] \[Q = {1 \over 2}{(4C-B^2)}^{1 \over 2} \] \[E= {{hc} \over λ} \]
  h: Planck's constant, c: speed of light; E is expressed in eV.
  n(∞), Eg, A, B, C: Material constants (parameters of the dispersion formula)

Manufacturing error analysis

When you switch the graph type or the quantity displayed (Ra, Rs, Rp, Ta, etc.), the results are automatically recalculated using the same random numbers.
If you want to use different random numbers, press the execute button.
Manufacturing error analysis is now available for stacks. When the stack window is open, the analysis is performed for the stack. When it is closed, the analysis is performed for the single surface shown in the main window.

Optimize

For a continuous target, you can now set a target for the average value over the specified range.
The figure below is an example in which the average value of Ra from wavelength 500 nm to 600 nm is targeted at 50%.

Import ZEMAX glass data File

You can import the glass data (AGF file) of the optical design software ZEMAX.
From the main window menu, select [File] - [Import] - [Import Zemax OpticStudio glass catalog (AGF file)…].

Glass data update

The glass data has been updated to the latest version.
SCHOTT: January 2019
OHARA: August 3, 2020
HOYA: March 14, 2020
HIKARI: April 1, 2020
SUMITA: July 15, 2020
CDGM: September 2020

Design data sample

Added samples of design data.

Bug fixes

The stability of operation has been improved by reducing the amount of memory used.
Solved the problem that it was difficult to enter the decimal point in the center wavelength and incident angle fields.
Fixed the problem that the evaporation control may not respond for a long time when inputting the filter wavelength.
Other minor bug fixes.

Specification change

In the color calculation, the aspect ratio of the chromaticity diagram is fixed.
If you want to use the conventional display method, go to [Chart format]-[Options] and uncheck "Fix chart aspect ratio".
The positions of all open windows are now saved by selecting [Tools]-[Save window position] from the main window menu.

What's new in Ver3.1

Color calculation

The color matching function has been updated to conform to ISO 11664-1: 2007.
Compared to the previous version of the color matching function ISO 10526: 1991, the calculation result is slightly different because the number of digits after the decimal point is increased.

User-created color matching functions can now be used.

Color calculation method can be selected from "360-830nm, 1nm interval", "380-780nm, 1nm interval", "380-780nm, 5nm interval (default)".
Set in [Tools]-[Options]-[Color]-[Calculation range and step].
* Normally, calculations at 5nm intervals are sufficient.

Added z to the numerical value of chromaticity coordinates of XYZ color system.

Added Dominant Wavelength (λd), Complementary Wavelength (λc), Excitation Purity (Pe), and Colorimetric Purity (Pc).

Dispersion formula

Added Cauchy to dispersion formula of k.

Importing Essential Macleod data

Added the function to import Essential Macleod Material and Substrate.
The import screen is displayed by selecting [File]-[Import] from the menu.

Essential Macleod design data (dds file) can be read.
From the menu, open the dds file with [File]-[Open].
The center wavelength, incident angle, substrate, incident medium, number of layers, layer thickness/material of each layer, and notes are loaded.
If a substrate/material with the same name does not exist in TFV, the substrate/material will be imported automatically.
* Please note that the calculation results will be different if Essential Macleod and TFV have the same substrate/material with different dispersion data.

Export to optical design software ZEMAX

Added the function to export design values or calculation results to ZEMAX coating files.
From the menu, select [File]-[Export] to display the export screen.

Bug fixes

Fixed a bug that prevented selection of the startup illuminant in [Tool]-[Option]-[Color].
Fixed a bug that prevented needle search from working when the first surface of the stack was uncoated.
Other minor bug fixes and improvements.

What's new in Ver3.0

Layer thickness display format

Both optical layer thickness and physical layer thickness are now displayed.
The unit of physical thickness can be selected in nm and Å.
The unit of optical thickness can be selected in nd/λ(FWOT) or QWOT.

Number of sheets

The number of sheets in the main window has increased to 20.

Optimization

You can now optimize colors and stacks.
Needle search now displays multiple optimization results in a list for selection.

Manufacturing error analysis

You can now set the amount of change for each layer.
Random variations can now follow a normal (Gaussian) distribution.

n and k analysis

Analysis wavelength range can now be set.
The analysis has been improved to handle more cases that could not be analyzed in the previous version.

High-resolution display support 4K ready!

Text now remains sharp on high-resolution displays and scales according to the Windows scaling setting.
You can also set font and font size.

Optical characteristics of multiple substrates (Stack)

You can now calculate the combined optical characteristics of multiple substrates, including multiple reflections.
The region between two media is treated as one block, and the spectral characteristics of each block can be displayed numerically.
You can now register the internal transmittance of the substrate.

Project file

You can save the design data displayed on each sheet of the main window, the structure of the stack window, the arrangement of the window being displayed, the format of the graph, the user line, etc. as a "project" in the file.

Design data editing

You can copy and paste design data by selecting a range of cells.
You can now insert or delete multiple layers at once.

Addition of material data

Added material data from the Kyoto Thin-Film Materials Institute.
Al2O3(KTM), HfO2(KTM), LaF3(KTM), Ti3O5(KTM), ZrO2(KTM), ZRT2(KTM)

Many other features have been added.

New Features Manual for Version 3.0(pdf)

Bug fixes and improvements from version 3.0.2 to 3.0.4

Fixed issues when loading project files: only the first wavelength range was applied when multiple ranges were specified, and errors could occur.
In the manufacturing error analysis, the problem that an error occurs when all units of ΔT, Δn, Δk are set to σ: standard deviation has been corrected.
In manufacturing error analysis, layer thicknesses that become negative when ΔT is increased are now treated as zero in calculations.
The Y-axis title and tick labels no longer overlap in wavelength and angle-of-incidence graphs.

Bug fixes and improvements from version 3.0.1 to 3.0.2

Stack
  Fixed a bug that caused incorrect calculations when the same sheet design was assigned to multiple surfaces.
  Fixed a bug that caused errors in 3D graphs and color calculations.
Others
  Fine-tuning in the high resolution display environments.

What's new in Ver2.2

Optimize design

Needle search can now generate an initial coating design automatically.

[Optimize design] - [Needle Search] - [Start] - [Needle Search Parameters] - [Automatically initial design]

The "continue" function of needle search has been improved.

Target entry has been improved. For example, you can specify a target reflectance of a given percentage over a wavelength range.

[Optimize design] - [Advanced target] - [Type] - [Continuous(Wavelength), Continuous(Angle)]

n and k analysis of a single-layer film

Analysis of inhomogeneity in n and k is now supported.

[n and k analysis from single-layer film] - [Step4: Analyzing parameters] - [Analyze inhomogeneity of n, k]

Bug fixes

Fixed minor bugs.

What's new in Ver2.1

Add dispersion data

Dispersion data of resin was added.

Substrate

PCHMA, PEI, PMMA, Polycarbonate, Polystyrene, SAN

Film material

Cytop

Add dispersion formulas

The number of supported dispersion formulas has increased to 28. All ZEMAX dispersion formulas can be used.

    

Bug fixes

Fixed minor bugs.

Bug fix in demo version

The results of n and k analysis are now shown on the chart.

What's new in Ver2.0

Optimization

It is now possible to optimize spectral or angular characteristics.

(1) Local search

Local search uses the Levenberg-Marquardt method for optimization.

(2) Global search

Global search combines simulated annealing with the Levenberg-Marquardt method for optimization.

(3) Needle search

Needle search uses needle synthesis and Gradual Evolution to optimize the design while increasing the number of layers and the total optical thickness.

Free-hand mode

Drag near the selected curve with the left mouse button to reshape it. Optimization starts automatically when you release the button.

Wavelength and incident angle 3D chart

You can set the custom contour.

Manufacturing error analysis

You can use Monte Carlo simulation to analyze manufacturing errors in spectral characteristics, angular characteristics, and color.

n and k analysis from single-layer film measurements

You can analyze n and k from measurements of a single-layer film.

Inhomogeneity

You can set the inhomogeneity of n and k for each layer.

Reverse side

Characteristics for light entering from the back side along the reverse of the front-side optical path can be displayed on the same chart.

Combined characteristics of both surfaces

The combined optical characteristics of both surfaces of a plane-parallel substrate can be displayed.

Spectrophotometer data

Spectrophotometer measurement files can now be imported directly and displayed on the wavelength chart. Relative reflectance can be converted to absolute reflectance.

Repeated layer group enhancement

A thickness multiplier can now be set for the layers within each repeated layer group.

Optical monitoring enhancement

Optical monitoring simulation has been improved. You can select monitoring based on back-side reflectance, front-side reflectance, or transmittance.

Electric field enhancement

The electric field intensity can be displayed for each polarization component in the chart window.

Color calculation enhancement

Added more illuminants.
A, B, C, D50, D55, D65, D75, E, F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12, ID50, ID65.
Added a color difference formula.
CIEDE2000.

Others

Added Traditional Chinese language support.
Glass data has been updated, with SUMITA and HIKARI added. Data for 866 types of glass are now included.
The source is now listed for all film material dispersion data.
Added conversion between optical and physical layer thickness.
Added the ability to change the center wavelength.
Added the ability to reverse the layer order.
etc.

Bug fixes

Fixed an incorrect Stop value calculation in evaporation control when optical thickness was used and Evp-dn was nonzero.
Fixed errors in the dH* and dE94 color difference calculations and corrected the signs of dL* and dC*.
Fixed an error in the electric field intensity calculation for p-polarization.