Simulation Results for Versatile Absorption Modeling for Transmissive Optical Elements Using Ray Tracing and Finite Element Analysis

<p>Emerging quality requirements in modern optical systems increase the need for
accurate simulation and compensation of disturbances. One key disturbance in
high-power laser applications results from thermal loading due to absorption.
The related paper presents a flexible modeling approach for absorption based on ray
tracing, where point heat sources are defined along ray paths. In addition, several
methods for mapping these point heat sources along the ray path to the finite
element mesh are introduced and compared. A major advantage of the proposed
approach lies in its flexibility, as it enables the simulation of transient phenomena
such as dynamic beam positioning and time-dependent variations in beam shape.</p>

The presented video shows the time-dependent temperature evolution on the front surface of the investigated lens which is transmitted by a Gaussian laser beam moving along a circular trajectory.