Encrypted Coating
This feature exports a single coating to a Zemax Encrypted Coating (ZEC) file
Coating: The name of the coating to export.
File Name: The name of the file to create. The file name should not include any path or extension. The file will be created in the current coating file folder and the extension "ZEC" will be automatically appended.
Wavelength: The wavelength, in micrometers, measured in air at system temperature and pressure, used to define the layer thicknesses. This value is only used when converting layers from optical thickness to absolute thickness.
Convert to Absolute Thickness: Converts optical thickness defined relative to the primary wavelength (for example, a quarter wave thickness) in the coating to absolute thickness. For maximum security, this option should be selected. If the relative optical thickness is left in the coating definition, then the end user of the encrypted coating may be able to determine some properties of the coating by changing the design wavelength. The conversion from thickness in primary waves to absolute thickness is done using the wavelength value from the above setting.
If the coating to be exported has its layers defined in absolute thicknesses, then "Wavelength" field and "Convert to Absolute Thickness" check box has no effect.
General Points to Note
Optical coating designers and manufacturers are often hesitant to divulge the details of their coating designs. This feature allows a coating defined in OpticStudio format to be exported to a single file that is encrypted. The encrypted file may be distributed to users that need to trace rays and perform analysis on the coating as applied to a specific optical system, without the details of the coating design being revealed.
The coating data that is exported includes all the material, index, extinction, dispersion, and layer data required to exactly reproduce the coating performance. No approximations or tables are used. However, no coating tapers, ideal coatings, or table coatings are supported. A maximum of 12 different materials and 400 layers may be used in defining the coating to be exported.
To use an encrypted coating file, see "The ENCRYPTED data section" in the Coating File description.
The encryption is based upon a 256-bit algorithm. The user should determine if the encryption implemented provides adequate security for the intended application before distributing sensitive data in the encrypted format.
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