Modern Optics Podcast

Recorded class lectures from Peter Beyersdorf's Physics 158 (Modern Optics) class at San Jose State University from the Spring of 2008. Recordings will be added twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Modulators

We look at the behavior of electrooptic devices as amplitude and phase modulators.

05-06
01:00:14

Birefringence

We look at birefringence in crystals and discuss optical activity and the Faraday effect.

05-01
01:10:20

Polarization of light

We look at the vectorial nature of light and describe polarization in terms of Jones vectors

04-24
56:42

Diffraction from Double Slits

Diffraction from a double slit is discussed. The convolution theorem is presented and the grating equation is derived. (incomplete)

04-15
18:26

More Diffraction

We look at the relationship between far-field (Fraunhofer) diffraction and the Fourier transform, and explore the diffraction pattern of a uniformly illuminated circular aperture, which leads to the Rayleigh criterion for resolution in an optical system.

04-10
53:17

Diffraction

We look at Fraunhofer diffraction from a slit and for a Gaussian beam. We use Huygen's principle and also discuss Babinet's principle

04-08
01:15:07

More Fiber Optics

We discuss unconventional types of fibers including photonic crystal fibers

04-03
58:59

Fiber Optics

We introduce the basic principles and parameters associated with fiber optics

04-01
01:17:20

Coherence

We introduce the coherence function and look at the relationship between coherence, bandwidth and linewidth.

03-20
57:13

Fourier Analysis

Fourier Series are introduced and are generalized to the Fourier sine and cosine tansform

03-18
01:15:55

Fabry-Perot Interferometer

We look at the transmission of a Fabry-Perot interferometer and discuss properties like the free spectral range, finesse and linewidth.

03-13
01:16:09

Michelson Interferometer

We investigate the Michelson interferometer and the relationship between physical parameters and the interference term.

02-28
01:15:35

Two beam interferencde

We look at the interference term present when two waves interfere and discuss the effect coherence has on fringe visibility

02-26
01:14:37

Group and Phase velocity

We look at the difference between group velocity and phase velocity in a dispersive material and introduce the Fourier transform

02-21
01:15:09

Superposition

We investigate the behavior of multiple waves that overlap in space and time.

02-19
01:14:48

Wave equation

We look at Maxwell's equations and use them to find the wave equation for electromagnetic radiation. We then investigate various solutions to the wave equation.

02-14
01:10:12

Thick Lenses

We introduce thick lenses and discuss parameters necessary to describe them. We go on to introduce ray matrices.

02-14
01:14:54

Ray Matrices

We look at methods for solving imaging problems using ray matrices.

02-07
01:13:24

Thin Lenses

We introduce the thin lens equation and the lens makers formula and the concept of ray tracing.

02-05
01:16:58

Fermat's Principle and Huygen's Principle

We Introduce Huygen's principle and Fermat's principle and use them to derive Snell's law and the law of reflection.

02-01
01:15:14

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