Office: M-414 EE1
Office hour: M 12:30-1:30 or by appointment
Download course syllabus
Pre-requisite
There is no pre-requisite to this class, but basic understanding of Electromagnetic Wave
will be a plus.
Course Description
Optics - First enunciated by Euclid as Geometrical Optics or Ray Optics in his "Catoptrics"
in 300 B.C., has evolved into a broad discipline elegantly formulated by a set of
fundamental physical principles and rigorously developed mathematical equations. The long
debate between geometrical optics and wave optics lead to Maxwell equations that founded
electromagnetic optics. Mystery about absorption and emission was finally explained by
quantum theory, which treated light as photons, in the beginning of 20th century.
Now widely referred as Photonics, which accounts for photon aspect of light and includes
treatment on various photonic devices, this discipline has made rapid progresses and broad
impacts in various fields in the last few decades, such as Optoelectronic devices and
systems, Optical fiber communications, Optical MEMS (Micro-electro-mechanical systems), Biophotonics,
Nanophotonics, new photonic materials and structures.
EE485, "Introduction to Photonics", will provide introductory lectures on fundamental
optical principles and phenomena, as well as photonic devices for electrical engineers.
The main topics of the course include:
- Geometrical optics and its applications in fiber optics
- Wave optics
- Superposition of waves and interference
- Diffraction
- Polarization
- Photon, laser and Gaussian beam optics
- Semiconductor optics
- LEDs and semiconductor lasers
- Photodetectors and photovoltaic devices
Textbooks
F. L. Pedrotti, L. S. Pedrotti, and L. M. Pedrotti, Introduction to Optics, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall.
Reference:
- S. O. Kasap, Optoelectronics and Photonics, Prentice Hall.
- B. E. A. Saleh and M. C. Teich, Fundamentals of Photonics, Wiley-Interscience.
- J. T. Verdeyen, Laser Electronics, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall.
Grading
Homework assignments: 40%
Midterm exam: 30%
Final exam: 30%
Class EMail list
ee485a_au12@uw.edu
