BEAM3 is a commercial computer program that runs under DOS designed to trace rays through an optical system. It allows you to define the optical elements, their placement, surface contour, orientation, and material. The optics you can study include lenses, mirrors, and gratings that are flat, concave or convex. Their surfaces can be spherical, parabolic, hyperbolic, or a curve described by a polynomial. The program has a graphical mode that displays the rays as they pass through the system, and their position as they pass through any selected optical element. It also has an automatic optimizer that will move or alter selected surfaces to make the rays go where you want.
All this power is not without a price, however. The program requires a little effort to learn to use. A copy of the manual should be near the computers in the lab, but the best way to begin is to try out some of the examples we have prepared for you. You may modify these to meet your needs.