Optimized Integrating Sphere Calibration Modeling

Integrating spheres are commonly used in aerospace and laboratory applications as stable reference calibration sources. Even with models containing simple geometries, tracing enough rays in order to achieve statistically converged output radiance distributions can be prohibitively time consuming unless the modeling is approached correctly. In this paper, we discuss the use of very high scatter level Monte Carlo raytracing to model the performance of an integrating sphere that includes the specular and scatter properties of the interior surface, distribution(s) of the light source(s) and the effects of misalignments. We also demonstrate the use of GPU ray tracing to dramatically shorten the analysis iteration cycle, leading to faster product development.