General Catalog 2023-24

Lecture, four hours; discussion, two hours; outside study, six hours. Requisite: Physics 1C. Fundamental principles of optical systems. Geometric optics and aberration theory. Diffraction and interference. Fourier optics, beam optics. Propagation of light, Snell’s law, and Huygen principle. Refraction and reflection. Plane waves, spherical waves, and image formation. Total internal reflection. Polarization, polarizers, and wave-plates. Lenses and aberrations, lens laws and formation of images, resolution and primary aberrations. Simple optical instruments, still cameras, shutters, apertures. Design of telescopes, microscope design, projection system design. Interference, Young’s slit experiment and fringe visibility, Michelson interferometer, multiple-beam interference and thin film coatings. Diffraction theory, Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction, Fresnel zone plate. Fiber optics, waveguides and modes, fiber coupling, types of fiber: single and multimode. Concurrently scheduled with course C286. Letter grading.