Admission Requirements
none
Description
In the Optics course you learn to describe light with either optical rays or electromagnetic waves. This enables you to solve most problems in Optics.
The lecture material is divided over four blocks:
1. In Geometric Optics you use optical rays and the principles of Huygens and Fermat to describe the operation of optical instruments like lenses, microscopes and telescopes, including their limitations.
2. In Wave Optics you treat light as an electromagnetic wave and encounter wave phenomena like diffraction and interference.
3. To handle the associated mathematical, you first study some general properties of oscillations and waves, including sound and water waves.
4. Finally, you analyze the optical polarization of light and ways to transform it.
As this course is presented in a 'Flipped Classroom' form, it requires extra preparation and planning.
The course addresses the following topics:
Propagation of light: Huygens sources & Fermat’s principle
Geometric optics: Refraction via Snell’s law and lens action through refraction at curved surfaces
Optical instruments: eye, microscope, telescope
Harmonic oscillation and phasors
Waves: interfering waves and the difference between phase and group velocity
Interferometers: Young’s double slit, Newton’s rings, Michelson and Fabry-Perot interferometer
Diffraction: single slit and double slit with finite width
Gratings: diffraction of N slits, diffraction orders and the resolution of a grating spectrometer
Optical polarization: linear and circular polarization, birefringence, λ/2 en λ/4 plates, Brewster’s angle
Course Objectives
Main learning objective of BSc course Optics: you are able to solve a large variety of exercise in which light is described either as a bundle of rays or as an electro-magnetic wave;
After this course, you are able to:
Derive Snell’s law, using phase fronts and rays;
Calculate the lens action produced by curved interfaces and describe potential aberrations;
Explain the working principle of various optical instruments, by sketching the prime optical rays and linking them to the essential properties of the instruments;
Use phasors in exercises dealing with harmonic oscillations and interference;
Quantity the difference between the phase and group velocity of a traveling wave;
Solve a variety of exercises on optical interference, including (variations on) Young’s double-slit experiment, and two-beam interference in thin films and interferometers;
Quantify the far-field diffraction pattern behind a slit or circular hole and calculate the associated (diffraction) limit of optical instruments, like telescopes and microscopes;
Quantify the diffraction pattern behind N slits in terms of diffraction orders and spectral resolution;
Explain the working principle of a Fabry-Perot interferometer by solving an infinite sum of reflections;
Compare different forms of optical polarization and calculate how polarizers and phase plates modify this polarization.
Generic Skills (soft skills)
you prepare for lectures and working classes by studying the lecture material (videoclips and book)
you plan ahead in order to distribute your study load over the full lecture period.
Timetable
Mode of Instruction
Lectures, exercise classes, homework, self study
Course Load
5 EC = 140 h
Lectures: 10 × 2 = 20 h
Exercise classes: 10 × 2 = 20 h
Exams: 2 + 3 = 5 h
Self study (excl. homework): 85 h
Homework: 10 h (online homework via Sowiso)
Assessment Method
The first exam, half way the lecture series, counts for 30% of the grade. The second and final exam counts for 70%. Homework exercises allow you to collect a bonus that can up your grade, but only if your average grade for the two exams is 5.5 or higher. The retake exam, which covers the full course, counts for 100% of the grade.
Blackboard
Blackboard is an important information source in this course. It contains among others: a detailed overview of the topics of the course, webclips that contain a large part of the course material, all exercises, old exams, and all powerpoint slides (although explanations on the chalkboard play a bigger role in this course). Blackboard UL
Reading List
University Physics, H.D. Young and R.A. Freedman, Addison Wesley 14th edition (ISBN-13: 978-1292100319)
Contact
Lecturer: Prof.dr.M.van Exter (Martin)