3 ECTS credits — Semester 1 — (part of a) Major, or Elective
Light-matter interactions involve the way light (electromagnetic radiation) interacts with matter at the atomic, molecular, or macroscopic level. These interactions can include absorption, emission, scattering, and reflection of light by matter.
Photons carry energy and momentum, and when they encounter matter, they can cause various effects depending on the properties of both the light and the material it interacts with. Light-matter interactions are essential to many scientific and technological fields, such as optics, photonics, spectroscopy, quantum mechanics, and materials science.
Understanding light-matter interactions is crucial for developing technologies like lasers, photovoltaic cells, LEDs, sensors, and optical communication systems. Additionally, studying light-matter interactions provides insights into the behavior of matter at the atomic and subatomic levels, contributing to advances in fundamental physics and our understanding of the universe.
Syllabus
• Course 1: Introduction and History of optics
• Course 2: Light and Ray optics
• Course 3: Electromagnetic Optics
• Course 4: Light waves and Polarization
• Course 5: Propagation and particular effect
• Course 6: Polarizers and applications
• Course 7: Anisotropic optics
• Course 8: Diffraction
• Course 9: Diffraction and Interference
• Course 10: Interference and applications
• Course 11: Interferometers
• Course 12: Fabry-Perot cavity & applications
• Course 13: Resonator and beam optics
• Course 14: Laser and applications
Suggested bibliography
- Saleh, B. E. A. & Teich, M. C., Fundamentals of Photonics, John Wiley
- Eberly, P. W. & Millony, J. H., Laser Physics, John Wiley
Prerequisites
- Basic mathematics necessary for electromagnetism and ordinary differential equations.