The Material Editor is where you manage every refractive-index source TFStudio knows about. Each material provides a refractive index n(λ) and an extinction coefficient k(λ); absorbing materials have k > 0. Every dropdown in the app that asks you to pick a material reads from here.

Materials are grouped into catalogs by source:

Catalog	Source	Editable
Built-in	A curated set of 16 common optical materials.	Read-only
AGF	Zemax .agf files placed in your TFStudio materials folder.	Via the file
User	Materials and catalogs you create inside TFStudio.	Yes
RefractiveIndex	Materials you import from the refractiveindex.info database.	Yes

The left panel holds a catalog selector, a search box, and the material list; the right panel shows the selected material. Built-in and AGF materials show read-only details (properties, dispersion formula, tabulated data, and an n/k chart); user and imported materials open in an editable form.

Settings

Catalog selector — choose a single catalog or All. The selector shows each catalog’s material count, and beneath it sit the actions for managing the selected catalog.

Search — filter the list by name (case-insensitive). The filter respects the catalog you have selected.

Import AGF — load a Zemax .agf glass file as a new catalog. AGF files store internal transmittance versus wavelength; TFStudio converts that to k(λ) automatically. AGF files you place in your TFStudio materials folder are also picked up automatically when the app starts.

Import .lm / .sub — load optical material-library files. You choose which catalog the parsed materials are added to, or create a new one.

Browse RII — open the refractiveindex.info browser to pick from the online database (an internet connection is needed the first time you fetch a material). The material is added to your chosen user catalog and then lives locally.

New Catalog — create an empty user catalog to organize your own materials.

Duplicate — copy the selected catalog (from any source) into a new, editable user catalog. Copy to catalog copies a single material into a user catalog, which is the way to make an editable variant of a read-only material.

Creating a material

Open a user catalog and choose New material, then pick a data type:

1. Tabular — paste or type a λ, n, k table. You can paste directly from a spreadsheet (Ctrl+V), and the grid supports keyboard navigation, sorting and per-cell editing.
2. Formula — choose a dispersion formula (Sellmeier, Cauchy, Conrady, Schott, Herzberger and other standard forms), enter its coefficients, and optionally add a λ, k table for absorption. The formula is rendered in full so you can confirm the convention.

A live n/k chart updates as you edit, and the wavelength range you set bounds where the material is valid.

How to read it

For a built-in or imported material, the n/k chart shows the real index n (left axis) and, when present, the extinction coefficient k (right axis, dashed). The properties panel lists the d-line index, Abbe number, density and wavelength range when the source provides them, and the dispersion formula and coefficients when the material is formula-based. A material with a flat, zero k is non-absorbing across the plotted range.

Catalogs are saved to your TFStudio materials folder and persist between sessions, so an imported or hand-built material is available the next time you open the app.

References

• M. N. Polyanskiy, refractiveindex.info — public-domain dispersion data.
• Beer–Lambert relation for extinction from internal transmittance: k(λ) = −λ / (4π d) · ln τ_int(λ).