Computer assistance for the pre-design of optical instruments

Currently designers use detailed numerical simulation tools for designing charged particle optical instruments. However, these detailed numerical simulation tools are not adequate for the pre-design stage, as they focus on the detailed design of components of the instrument while the pre-design stage deals with the design of the complete instrument. In this article the role of the pre-design stage is analyzed, resulting in a list of requirements for computer assistance at the pre-design stage. These requirements are derived using a model for the process of design. The results of this study are being used by us to develop a pre-design tool.