Justification for this course

Optics is used in many applications today. In fact, the field of optics has quietly gone from the research table to being used in numerous applications ranging from devices to metrology. Opto-electronics and metrology are already well-developed fields merging the

areas of optics and electronics in many advanced and commonly used devices. For an electrical engineering student to be able to understand and design optics or electronics for such applications, it is important to understand some basic optics and how this optics can be controlled electronically. This course will introduce these concepts at a level relevant for an engineer. The course will also study specific engineering examples with a detailed look at the optics and electronics of these systems.

Course Contents

1. Basic Optics

Geometric Optics

Gaussian Optics

Fourier Optics

2. Advanced topics in optical engineering

Diffractive Optics and holography

Interferometry

Non-linear optics

Adaptive Optics

3. Opto-electronic applications with details of working.

Barcode readers

Finger print sensors

Pick-up heads used in DVD/CD players

Biomedical instrumentation

Interferometers for metrology

Sensors

Holographic data storage

4. Lab Content

Optical System Design using OSLO

Experiments with interferometry, diffractive optics, CD pick-ups, fibres