Course Description:

This course provides a fundamental understanding of the microscopic origin of the optical properties of materials. Topics to be covered include the optical properties (refractive index, absorption, reflection coefficient, color) of gases, insulating dielectrics, conducting metals, and semiconductors; the fundamentals of lasers; magneto-optics; the basics of nonlinear optics using the classical “anharmonic oscillator” model; and light interaction with vibrations in polar solids.

Textbook (Optional)

• Optical Properties of Solids, M. Fox (Oxford University Press)

Additional Reading (Optional)

• Optical Materials, J. Simmons and K. S. Potter (Academic Press)
• Optical Properties of Solids, F. Wooten (Academic Press, out of
  print)
• Applied Classical Electrodynamics, F. A. Hopf and G. I. Stegeman
  (Wiley)
• Laser Electronics, J. Verdeyen (Prentice-Hall)
• Elementary Solid State Physics, M. Ali Omar (Addison Wesley)
• Optical Electronics in Modern Communications, A. Yariv (Oxford)
• Laser Fundamentals, W. T. Silfvast (Cambridge)

List of topics

I. Interaction of EM Waves with Matter

• Maxwell’s wave equation in matter
• Susceptibility (frequency domain) and polarization response (time domain)
• Causality & Kramer-Kronig (KK) Relations
• Dipole radiation and Rayleigh scattering
• Optical properties of metals, dielectrics and semiconductors
• Lorentz Oscillator, Drude model
• Local field corrections – Clausius-Mosotti & Lorentz-Lorenz relation
• Sellmeier equations and Abbe number
• Magneto-optics; Faraday rotation, Zeeman splitting, optical activity
• Molecular vibrations; normal modes, dipole-active vs. Raman-active modes
• Acoustic & optical phonons; infrared absorption
• Energy bands, excitons, impurities

II. Lasers & Nonlinear Optics

• Black body radiation and Einstein A & B coefficients
• Population inversion, gain, and gain saturation. CW laser threshold
• Anharmonic classical oscillator model; second harmonic generation (SHG), sum- and difference frequency generation (SFG), optical parametric gain (OPG)
• Phase matching
• Third order effects; third harmonic generation, nonlinear absorption and refraction

Real and imaginary refractive index a lithium fluoride (LiF) crystal