Official description

This course, which is intended to be an introduction to research in optical sciences, covers the statistics of optical fields and the physics of lasers. Topics include the principles of laser action, laser cavities, properties of laser radiation and its propagation, the diffraction of light, and spatial and temporal coherence.

Additional information

Interference effects in coherent light requires a description beyond ray optics or simple plane waves.  The first half of this course builds on your foundation of electromagnetic theory and basic optics to develop advanced topics such as interference, spatial coherence, temporal coherence, and diffraction of light.  The second half of the course discusses lasers, which are the brightest sources of coherent radiation.  Our treatment includes Gaussian beams, resonant cavities, threshold criteria, the Lorentz model of the atom, and a comparison to thermal radiation.