Courses
This course is designed to provide the hands-on experience needed to master the basic concepts and laboratory techniques of optical fiber technology. The projects cover a wide range of applications in both communications and sensors and cover the use of both multimode and single-mode fibers. There will typically be an introductory lecture for each lab and a total of ten lab experiments. Some demonstration experiments will be set-up for other topics not formally covered by an assigned lab (such as fiber gyroscope, fiber-based supercontinuum source). The introductory notes/text should provide sufficient background material for the lab experiments as well as a foundation in fiber optics.
This course has been designed to give an introduction to photonics at the graduate level. From the Photonics Dictionary at photonics.com, Photonics is defined as “The technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. The science includes light emission, transmission, deflection, amplification and detection by optical components and instruments, lasers and other light sources, fiber optics, electro-optical instrumentation, related hardware and electronics, and sophisticated systems. The range of applications of photonics extends from energy generation to detection to communications and information processing.” This course is designed to be device oriented, with many practical examples of photonics components. The students will learn how the devices are made, designed and operated.