PHY 5620 - Optics (4)

When Offered: Fall
A rigorous introduction to geometric and wave optics with applications including lasers, interferometers, spectroscopy, telescopes, fiber optics, and remote sensing. Basic electromagnetic wave theory is employed to describe the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter including absorption, dispersion, reflection, and scattering. Geometric optics is employed to study image formation by optical systems using both ray-tracing and matrix optics methods. Wave optics is used to study interference, diffraction, and coherence. This leads into a detailed lab-based unit dealing with interferometry and optical system alignment, with applications to optical component testing, spectral analysis of light sources, and coherence. The course also includes a semester synthesis project.
Prerequisite: PHY 3001 (Analytical Methods in Physics) or equivalent with a grade of “C” (2.0) or higher or permission of the instructor.
Lecture three hours, laboratory three hours.