ZOSPy: optical ray tracing in Python through OpticStudio

Abstract

Zemax OpticStudio (Ansys, Inc) is a commonly used software package for designing optical setups and performing ray tracing simulations. It offers an Application Programming Interface (API) but interacting with this API is complex. Consequently, current ray tracing simulations generally require substantial manual user interaction, which in turn hampers the sharing of methods between scientists. We have therefore developed ZOSPy, a Python package that provides an accessible interface as well as unit tests. As a result, ZOSPy enables scientists to focus more on optical modelling instead of coding and contributes to open science as optical setups and analyses can easily be shared amongst users.