Phy 441/541:
Optics & Laser Physics

Labs:  Click here for laboratory experiments.

E-beam Lithography Introduction:

Syllabus:
 

Spring 2002  Physics 441/541:  130 Culler Hall, 10-10:50 am MWF

OPTICS  &  LASER  PHYSICS

Instructor:  Dr. Jan Yarrison-Rice, Room 15 Culler Hall, 529-1862 or 529-5625
                   E-mail:  yarrisjm@muohio.edu  website:   www.cas.muohio.edu/~yarrisjm/

Office Hours:  11 am - 12 noon  M,T,R;  and by appointment.

Textbook:  Lasers and Electro-Optics, Christopher C. Davis, Cambridge Press
 Separate lab notebooks are required.

Objectives or Goals:   The goal of the course is to familiarize each student with the characteristics of light, the propagation of light in various media, the basic theory of the laser, different laser systems, and applications of lasers.  A specific outline of topics is provided below.

Course Organization:  The course will consist of both lectures with demonstrations and laboratory work.  A number of experiments will be run during the semester (approximately 10).

Grades:  There will be 2 exams throughout the semester -- each worth 20% for a total of 40% of one's grade.  Exams will include short answer sections to probe your understanding of concepts as well as the more traditional problems.  Homework and laboratory work will be worth 15% and 25% respectively.  Lab notebooks are required.  Graduate students will be given somewhat more challenging homework assignments and exam questions than undergraduates.  One of the first few labs will be written up as a Physical Review Letter and go through the review and editing process for 10% of the grade.  Lab groups will be co-authors on the papers.  Finally, each student will be asked to choose a topic on which to do an oral  report for the end of the semester also worth 10% of one's grade. This presentation is in leiu of a final exam.

Final Exam is scheduled for Thurs. May 2 at 12:30 PM

Homework Assignments are due 1 week after they are assigned, and laboratory notebooks are due 1 day after completion of lab.  Assignments will lose 1 letter grade for each day late.

Oral Reports:    Topics must come from a journal article such as an Optical Society of America journal, or Scientific American article from the last 2 years.  Utilize the library's resources to assist you in your decision.  By Wednesday, January 26, I should be informed of and approve of your topic.  First come -- first serve!!  I will want a copy of the article you are interested in and a paragraph explanation of the direction you plan to take in studying the topic.  Then in late February, I will schedule a meeting with each person in the class to discuss his or her report.  At that time, a written outline of the talk must be available.    Oral presentations will occur at the end of the semester and will be approximately 20 minutes long with 5-10 minutes for questions (the exact time is subject to change with class size and time remaining in the semester).
 
 
 
 

Outline of Topics of Study:
   Introduction
1.    Brief history of laser development and overview of different laser types.
2..    What's so special about lasers and the light they produce?
3.    Maxwell's Equations, Nature of Light
4. Ch. 14&6 Vectorial Nature of Light - Polarization, Reflection and Refraction, Brewster's Angle
    Coherence and Interference
5. Ch. 1-3 Spontaneous vs. Stimulated Emission, Optical Amplification, and Two Example Laser Systems   (HeNe and Ruby)
6. Ch. 15&16 Propagation of light rays through various media
   Matrix formalization and Geometric Optics  >>>>>>>>>>Exam #1<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
    Maxwell's equations and Gaussian beam propagation
7. Ch. 4&5   Resonators
  A. Fabry-Perot etalon
  B.  Diffraction
  C. Mirror cavities
  D.  Stability region
  E.  Resonant frequency of oscillators
  F.  Losses
8. Ch. 8 Optically Pumped Solid State Lasers
  A.  Rate equations
  B.  Two-level system
  C.  Three-level system
  D.  Three vs. Four level system   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Exam #2<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
9. Ch. 9  Gas Lasers
10. Ch. 13 Semi-conductor Lasers
11.  Laser Applications and Student Presentations on What's New!