MATLAB GUI (Graphical User Interface) for the design of GRIN components for optical systems as an educational tool

New technologies and the available computing tools are becoming more important every day in the teaching evolution. The use of Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) with MATLAB enables the implementation of practical teaching methodologies to make easier the comprehension of a given subject. In this work, we report on the application of GUIs in order to provide the students with a simple tool for a better understanding on how to design GRIN elements for optical systems. Another GUIs advantage is that they can be converted to an executable file, so any student could use the interface in their own computer without having a MATLAB license. We present a graphical interface to show the performance of an optical device for controlling beam size and for deflecting light for coupling purposes, by a simple geometrical optics study, in a tapered GRIN lens illuminated by a parallel beam of tilted rays. We also show a graphical interface to obtain the maximum coupling efficiency between fundamental modes of two single-mode fibers by a scaling operation carried out by a GRIN fiber lens. With this interface the students can vary the magnification and the image plane in order to get the more suitable GRIN fiber lens to maximize the coupling efficiency between two fibers.