Instructor
Prof. F. Elohim Becerra
Email: fbecerra@unm.edu
Office: PAÍS 2514
Phone: 505 277-2673
Teaching Assistant
Hariprasad Madathil
Email: hariprasadm@unm.edu
Office: PAÍS NNN
This course studies the fundamentals of optics and some applications, and covers diverse topics in geometrical and physical optics. The course addresses the study of electromagnetic theory, fundamental properties of light, waves, Gaussian beams, ray tracing and matrix methods, basic optical elements and devices, image formation, interference, diffraction and topics in modern/advanced optics.
Prerequisites: E&M, Undergraduate Physics, Knowledge of Differential Equations, Linear & Complex Algebra, Matrix representations, Optics.
Monday and Wednesday, 1:00-2:15 pm PAÍS 1160
There are many useful texbooks that cover the topics on the class.
The course will use the textbook by Frank L. Pedrotti, Leno M. Pedrotti, and Leno S. Pedrotti. We will cover topics from some chapters within Ch1-23, and other additional topics form other resources.
Introduction to Optics (3rd Edition): Frank L. Pedrotti, Leno M. Pedrotti, and Leno S. Pedrotti.
Additional Resources
There will be regular assignments of problem sets including problems from the textbook by E. Pedrotti and other exercises, about one set per week.
The assignments will be given throughout the semester and will be posted in the Tentative Schedule about one week before they are due. Homeworks must be turned in to the TA's mailbox before 5:00 pm on the due date.
Office hours: Monday 10:30 am -11:30 am. You may also arrange a meeting for another time via email.
TA office hours (TBD): in the PAIS lobby (TBD). You may also arrange a meeting for another time via email.
The final grade will be based on the homework assignments, one midterm exam and a final exam. The contribution to the final grade is as follows:
Exam Dates (subject to change):
Formal Reports: You will write a formal report from one topic suggested related to optics covering fundmanteal concepts and applications. You will write the lab report using LaTeX, which is widely used in the scientific community in different areas including physics and engineering. It should follow the format of a scientific paper. Lab reports should be submitted as a word or PDF document by email with the subject “Lab Report". The file name should be your last name followed by the name of the experiment. Lab reports and presentations are individual. Any research article is good example. One example from a class report is here.
Presentation: You will give a presentation at the end of the semester about the topic in your report (15 minutes+ 5 for questions). It should discuss fundamentals and theoretical background, development in the field, and applications of the subject studied to science and/or technology. Some tips; more tips.
Suggested topics for the formal report and repsentations are here. You may choose another topic and you should discuss with the instructor about the suitability for an article and presentation.
Syllabus Topics
Below is a tentative list of topics that will be covered. You can find the calendar for the course in the Tentative Schedule
Additional resources
Lasers: Anthony E. Siegman.
Laser Physics: P. W. Milonni, J. H. Eberly.
Optics, Light and Lasers: (2nd Edition) Dieter Meschede.
Fundamentals of Photonics , 2nd Edition: E. A. Saleh, Malvin Carl Teich.
Optics,
4th Edition: E. Hecht.
Laser Electronics (3rd Edition) by Joseph T. Verdeyen. (JV)
| Topic | Date | Subject | Reading | Homework | HW Due | Solutions |
| Introduction to Optics | 08/22 (M) | Overview, Fermat's principle; Reflection and refraction | ||||
| Geometrical Optics | 08/24 (W) | Paraxial optics, mirrors and lenses | Chapter 2 | HW1 | (W) Aug 31 | HW1sol |
| 08/29 (M) | Matrix methods in paraxial optics | |||||
| 08/31 (W) | Paraxial ray equation; GRIN systems | Chapter 18; JV CH2 | HW2 | (W) Sep 7 | HW2sol | |
| 09/05 (M) | Labor Day | |||||
| 09/07 (W) | Optical resonators | Chapter 3; JV CH2 | HW3 | (W) Sep 14 | HW3sol | |
| 09/12 (M) | Apertures | Chapter 3 | ||||
| 09/14 (W) | Prisms and optical systems | " | HW4 | (W) Sep 21 | HW4sol | |
| 09/19 (M) | Prisms and optical systems | " | ||||
| Physical Optics | 09/21 (W) | Wave optics | Chapter 4 | HW5 | (W) Sep 28 | HW5sol |
| 09/26 (M) | Field propagation in a dielectric medium | Chapter 25 | ||||
| 09/28 (W) | Fresnel Equations | Chapter 23, 25 | HW6 | (W) Oct 05 | HW6sol | |
| 10/03 (M) | " | |||||
| 10/05 (W) | Gaussian Beams and Gaussian Optics | NOTES | HW7 | (W) Oct 12 | HW7sol | |
| 10/10 (M) | " | |||||
| 10/12 (W) | Superpositions of fields | Chapter 5 | HW7.5 | (M) Oct 24 | HW7.5sol | |
| Formula Sheet MT1 | 10/17 (M) | Midterm | Formula Sheet MT1 | |||
| 10/19 (W) | Gaussian Pulse Propagation | CH14 (Laser Physics) | ||||
| 10/24 (M) | Interference | Chapter 7 | ||||
| 10/26 (W) | Interference and Fabry Perot | Chapter 8 | HW8 | (W) Nov 02 | HW8sol | |
| 10/31 (M) | " | Chapter 8 | ||||
| 11/02 (W) | Diffraction | Chapter 11 | ||||
| 11/07(M) | " | HW9 | (M) Nov 14 | HW9sol | ||
| 11/09 (W) | Diffraction gratings | Chapter 12 | ||||
| 11/14 (M) | " | HW10 | (M) Nov 21 | HW10sol | ||
| 11/16 (W) | Fresnel Diffraction | Chapter 13 | ||||
| 11/21 (M) | " | HW11 | (W) Nov 30 | HW11sol | ||
| Polarization | 11/23 (W) | Thanksgiving | ||||
| 11/28 (M) | Polarization: polarization states and Jones matrices | Chapter 14-15 | ||||
| 11/30 (W) | Stokes parameters and light modulation | |||||
| Student Presentations | 12/05 (M) | Student Presentations (M-T-W from 1-3 pm) | ||||
| 12/07 (W) | " | |||||
| Final's Week | 12/12 (M) | |||||
| 12/14 (W) | ||||||
| 12/16 (F) | Final 12:30 pm | Formula Sheet Final |