Dr. Suzana Topuzoski, Professor
Course content:
The nature of light and ways of manipulating light. Photonic nature of light (photoelectric effect, impulse, interaction with matter). Wave characteristics and description of light: Interference and Coherence; Polarization; Diffraction of light (scalar theory of Kirchhoff, Fresnel- Kirchhoff diffraction integral). Fraunhofer diffraction as an example of Fourier transform (diffraction from a circular aperture observed at the focal plane of a converging lens). Optical resolution instruments.
Light generation: lasers and their applications. Basic principles of lasers: Einstein coefficients, amplification and losses. Stability of resonant cavity, laser modes. Gaussian laser beams (defining the characteristic parameters and spreading). Higher modes: Lager-Gaussian laser beams (optical beams with orbital angular momentum) and their application in astronomy and physics. Some species of lasers.
Fundamentals of fiber-optic techniques: optical fibers with stepped refractive index profile; single and multimode optical fibers and their transmission characteristics. Acousto-optical, electro-optical and magneto- optical effects.
Some applications based on photonics methods and techniques: liquid crystals; laser tweezers and application in biological and medical sciences; laser trapping of atoms; wavefront shaping - adaptive optics; holographic interferometry.