Design Better Optical Products
with Physics-Based Simulation
The Ansys Optics collection helps engineering teams design, optimize and validate optical and photonic products with greater speed and confidence. It supports imaging optics, illumination, human vision, sensor performance, photonic devices, and photonic integrated circuits, helping reduce prototype cycles while improving performance, reliability, and manufacturability.
From nanoscale photonic components to full optical systems, these solutions support a more connected path from concept to verification. This helps teams make better engineering decisions earlier across optics, photonics, and broader multiphysics product development.
Relevant Ansys
SOFTWARE
Ansys Speos
An optical system design and validation solution for realistic illumination, perception, and sensor-focused studies. Best for teams that need to predict optical performance in full 3D environments and validate behavior in real usage conditions.
Predict illumination and optical performance early to reduce prototype iterations.
Simulate lighting behavior, sensor vision, and human-vision-based perception.
Work with CAD-connected workflows for faster design evaluation.
Extend optical studies with broader multiphysics workflows when needed.
Ansys Zemax OpticStudio
A comprehensive optical design platform for analysis, optimization, and tolerancing of complex optical systems. Ideal for teams that need precision optical engineering with strong insight into performance and manufacturability.
Design and optimize optical systems across imaging, sensing, and communications applications.
Perform ray tracing, lens design, and tolerance analysis in one workflow.
Support challenging applications such as AR/VR, LiDAR, medical imaging, and data communications.
Improve confidence in optical performance before manufacturing and testing.
Ansys Lumerical FDTD
A flagship photonics simulation tool for nanophotonic devices, materials, and advanced optical components. Well suited for teams that need wave-optics accuracy, fast virtual prototyping, and scalable photonic design workflows.
Simulate photonic components and materials with high-fidelity electromagnetic methods.
Support devices such as gratings, coatings, image sensors, metalenses, and metasurfaces.
Work within an environment that brings multiple photonic solving approaches together.
Accelerate design exploration for demanding nanophotonic applications.
Ansys Lumerical MODE
A design environment for waveguides, fibers, couplers, and other guided-wave photonic structures. A strong fit for integrated photonics teams focused on propagation behavior, mode analysis, and coupling performance.
Analyze guided-wave structures such as waveguides, couplers, and optical fibers.
Support propagation and coupling studies critical to photonic device performance.
Enable design workflows centered on integrated photonics and guided-wave behavior.
Improve confidence in component behavior before fabrication.
Ansys Lumerical Multiphysics
A photonics component simulation environment that captures optical, thermal, electrical, and quantum-well effects together. Best for products where optical performance depends on tightly coupled multiphysics behavior rather than optics alone.
Simulate photonic components in a unified multiphysics environment.
Combine optical, thermal, electrical, and quantum-well effects in one workflow.
Support applications such as image sensors, photodetectors, modulators, and mLED-related devices.
Improve realism where coupled physics directly affects device behavior.
Ansys Lumerical INTERCONNECT
A simulator for classical and quantum photonic integrated circuits with support for photonic-electronic co-design. Ideal for teams building scalable PICs and packaging-aware optical-electronic systems.
Support hierarchical design of photonic integrated circuits.
Enable photonic-electronic co-design and co-simulation workflows.
Work with foundry-compatible development approaches for scalable PIC design.
Extend design workflows into quantum photonics when needed.
Ansys Lumerical CML Compiler
A compact model library development solution for creating, calibrating, and maintaining photonic PDK model libraries. Especially useful for foundries and PIC teams that need scalable, version-controlled, and manufacturable compact models.
Automate creation, maintenance, and QA testing of compact model libraries.
Build INTERCONNECT and Verilog-A compatible photonic compact models from one data source.
Support library generation from both simulation and measurement data.
Help teams scale model development while protecting design IP and improving reuse.
One Collection Across Imaging,
Illumination and Photonics
What makes the Optics collection especially valuable is its breadth. Ansys Speos focuses on optical system design and validation in real-world environments, Ansys Zemax OpticStudio supports complex optical design, optimization and tolerancing, and the Ansys Lumerical products address photonic devices, waveguides, multiphysics photonics and photonic integrated circuits.
Together, these solutions create a stronger workflow from component-level physics to full optical system behavior. This helps teams improve product quality, shorten design cycles, and evaluate performance earlier across applications such as automotive lighting, AR/VR, LiDAR, medical optics, data communications, and PIC development.
Relevant
Applications
Imaging Optics
Design complex imaging systems with stronger control over image quality, optical performance, and manufacturability. Support earlier decisions with advanced optical design, analysis, optimization, and tolerancing workflows.
Illumination Design
Develop and validate lighting systems with realistic simulation of illumination performance and light behavior. Improve optical effectiveness earlier in products where visibility and lighting quality directly affect results.
Human Vision and Perceived Quality
Assess optical performance not only by physics, but also by how users see and experience the final product. Support visibility, legibility, and perceived-quality studies where human experience matters to design success.
Sensor Vision
Simulate optical sensors in realistic environments to better understand perception and operating behavior. Support smarter development of products where camera- or sensor-based optical performance is critical.
Automotive Lighting
Engineer vehicle lighting with better insight into beam performance, visibility, and validation in real usage conditions. Reduce prototype effort while improving lighting behavior for safety- and design-driven automotive applications.
AR/VR Systems
Develop compact optical systems for immersive devices where image quality, alignment, and optimization are essential. Support next-generation AR/VR products with workflows built for complex optical system design.
LiDAR and Optical Sensing
Advance LiDAR and optical sensing systems with better understanding of alignment, tolerance, and system-level behavior. Improve confidence in sensing architectures where optical path accuracy directly affects performance.
Medical Imaging
Support precision optical design in medical imaging systems where clarity, robustness, and performance all matter. Use virtual optical development to improve image fidelity before physical prototypes are built.
Create Advanced Optical Products
with Greater Confidence
Optical issues discovered late can lead to expensive redesigns, longer prototype cycles, and performance compromises that are harder to fix.
Fluid Codes helps teams apply the right Ansys Optics solutions earlier, so they can improve design accuracy, reduce development risk, and move from concept to validation with stronger confidence.
