VirtualLab Fusion 2025 is the latest major release of LightTrans’ flagship optical modeling and design software, specializing in fast physical optics simulations for multiscale systems. Released in July 2025 as version 2025.1 (Build 1.176), it enables seamless integration of geometrical optics, wave optics, and physical optics models in a unified platform. This version emphasizes higher speed, easier usability, deeper physical insights, and enhanced control, making it ideal for designing complex optical systems in industries like AR/VR/XR, laser beam shaping, diffractive optics, and metasurfaces. By connecting field solvers via an innovative operator and channel concept, VirtualLab Fusion balances simulation accuracy and computational efficiency, supporting everything from preliminary concept validation to detailed optimization.

The 2025 release requires a 2nd quarter 2025 Update Service and installs in parallel to existing versions, ensuring backward compatibility. It runs on 64-bit Windows 10/11 with OpenGL support for graphics-intensive tasks.

Key Features and Enhancements in VirtualLab Fusion 2025.1

This update introduces a reengineered workflow with over 20 major enhancements, focusing on intuitive modeling and advanced physics. Below is a breakdown of the core functionalities:

1. Reengineered Optical Setup View

  • Unified document interface for building and visualizing optical setups, combining 2D schematics with interactive 3D views.
  • Drag-and-drop components for rapid prototyping, with real-time error checking and automatic propagation paths.
  • Enhanced navigation tools, including zoom-to-fit, layer management, and annotation overlays for collaborative reviews.

2. Advanced System Building Blocks

  • Support for absorptive and dispersive materials in layered structures, enabling accurate modeling of thin-film coatings and gradient-index optics.
  • New parametric components like spatially varying beam splitters, off-axis parabolic mirrors, and computer-generated holograms (CGHs) for null testing.
  • Improved handling of free-space propagation in k-domain for faster field tracing in non-sequential simulations.

3. Multiscale Simulation Capabilities

  • Electromagnetic twist on geometrical optics, incorporating diffraction effects where needed for hybrid ray-tracing and wave-optics workflows.
  • Versatile light source modeling, including Gaussian, LED, and laser diode sources with customizable spectra and polarization.
  • Detector add-ons for simultaneous post-processing, such as overlap integrals for fiber coupling efficiency and interference analysis in Mach-Zehnder interferometers.

4. Usability and Performance Optimizations

  • Intuitive UI with smoothing and interpolation tools for data arrays, plus batch scripting for repetitive tasks.
  • Up to 25% faster simulations via optimized solvers and distributed computing package integration.
  • Expanded import/export for Zemax, Code V, and ESRI formats, fostering interoperability with third-party CAD and GIS tools.

5. Package-Specific Enhancements

  • Diffractive Optics Package: Advanced grating and metasurface design with improved null-testing for aspherical lenses.
  • AR/VR/XR Package: Light guide toolbox for waveguide efficiency and straylight analysis (upgraded from previous silver/gold editions).
  • Light Shaping Package: Refractive beam shapers for top-hat profiles and laser system beam delivery.
  • Optimization Package: Gradient-based algorithms for multi-objective designs, including volume calculations and contour mapping.