Introduction
- Waves
- Historical introduction. Waves: harmonic waves, longitudinal, transverse, complex description, phase velocity, wave front types.
MEMY-901
Foundations of Modern Optics
- Course Type
- Elective
- Semester
- First
- ECTS Credits
- 7
Syllabus
Fundamentals
- Electromagnetism
- Maxwell's equations: wave equation, velocity of wave propagation, Poynting vector, radiation intensity. Spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, refractive index, dispersion – absorption, classical dispersion theory.
- Detection of radiation
- The photoelectric effect, photomultipliers, photoresistors, photodiodes, phototransistors, CCD detectors, film. Photometry – Radiometry.
- Sources of radiation
- Black body radiation, incandescent, arc, spectral gas, fluorescence lamps, LEDs, LASERs: basic principles, pumping – amplification of light, laser cavity, gas lasers, solid state lasers, diode lasers.
- Polarization
- Polarization state, degree of polarization, non polarized light. Linear, elliptical, circular polarization, Jones vectors and matrices, Stokes parameters and Mueller matrices. Linear polarizers, retardation plates. Birefringence: birefringent crystals, the dielectric tensor, refractive index ellipsoid, wavefront surface, eigen polarizations, optical activity. Polarization by scattering, polarization by reflection, evanescent waves.
- Interference
- Group velocity, coherence, interference conditions, types and localization of interference fringes. Two wave interference, multiple plane wave interference. Wavefront splitting interferometers: Young's experiment. Amplitude splitting interferometers: equal inclination fringes (thin film interference), equal thickness fringes, interference under multiple reflections.
Imaging
- Geometrical optics
- Optical rays, the geometrical optics approximation. The concept of imaging, stigmatic imaging. Reflection, refraction (Snell equation), total internal reflection, reflectivity (Fresnel coefficients). Fermat's principle, application in reflection and refraction. Reflection prisms. Dispersion prisms: minimum deviation, monochromators.
- Simple optical systems
- Reflection from plane mirror, retro-reflectors. Refraction from a plane interface, propagation through a transparent plate. Spherical interfaces, spherical lenses, spherical mirrors. Paraxial approximation, imaging with thin lenses and mirrors, the use of cardinal points, examples, 3D objects, magnification.
- The matrix method
- The ray vector. Ray translation, refraction, reflection matrices, matrix of an optical system, estimation of cardinal points, imaging using matrices, optical system composition. Basic principles of analysis and design of optical systems using ray matrices.
- Image illumination
- Aperture stop, field stop, entrance-exit pupil, entrance-exit window, telecentric systems.
- Optical Aberrations
- Ray aberration, wavefront aberration, monochromatic aberrations. Seidel primary aberrations: spherical, comma, astigmatism, field curvature, distortion. Chromatic aberrations: longitudinal-transverse, sphero-chromatic. Achromatic lenses, apochromatic lenses, aspherical lenses.
- Eikonal equation
- Optical rays, derivation of the eikonal equation, geometrical wave surfaces, ray equation, paraxial approximation. Propagation in inhomogeneous media.
Wave Propagation
- Diffraction
- Fresnel zones, Helmholtz-Kirchhoff integral theorem, Kirchhoff diffraction theory. Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction: slit, rectangular, circular opening. Resolution, diffraction limited systems. Array of diffracting openings: multiple slits.
- Gaussian beams
- Propagation, beam waist, confocal parameter. Imaging of Gaussian beams, matrix description.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to:
- Be familiar with the basic principles of optics.
- Be familiar with the principles of electromagnetism with emphasis on their application to optics.
- Be familiar with the basic principles governing wave propagation, the description of transverse E/M waves in various media and the phenomena of contribution and diffraction.
- Be able to describe in detail the polarization of optical waves as they are imparted to complex optical devices.
- To know the principles of operation and design of imaging optical systems and to solve problems of designing optical light systems within complex optical systems.
- Be able to independently describe and solve optical design problems.
Suggested Bibliography
- Lecture notes.
- "Optics", E. Hecht, Addison-Wesley, (2001).
- "Principles of Optics", M. Born, E. Wolf.
- "Introduction to Modern Optics", G.R. Fowles, Dover, (1989).
- "Introduction to Fourier Optics", J. W. Goodman, McGraw-Hill, (1996).
- "Solved exercises in Optics", D. Papazoglou, UoC, (2022).