This course discusses the fundamentals and applications of photonics. In the first part of the course the theory of guided wave optics is covered, including optical modes and their dispersion in rectangular and circular waveguides. Optical wave interaction with isotropic and anisotropic media is addressed. The second part of the course deals with active devices, including electro-optic and acousto-optic modulators. The third part focuses on semiconductor based devices, including the fundamentals of gain in semiconductors, and applications such as photodetectors and laser diodes.

Pre-requisite:

• Graduate Standing and OSE5111 (Optical Wave Propagation) or equivalent.

Textbook (Optional):

• "Photonics: Optical Electronics in Modern Communications" by Amnon Yariv and Pochi Yeh, Oxford University Press

Additional Reading (Optional):

• An introduction to Electro-Optic Devices by Ivan Kaminow, Academic Press, New York and London
• Electrooptics by Fernando Agullo-Lopez, Jose Manuel Cabrera, Fernando Agullo-Rueda, Academic Press. London
• Fundamentals of Photonics by Bahaa E.A. Saleh, Malvin Carl Teich, Wiley, New York
• Fundamentals of Optical Waveguides, K. Okamoto, Academic Press, London
• Elements of Optoelectronics & Fiber Optics, Chin-Lin Chen, Irwin C0., 1996

List of topics

Guided Wave Optics

• Planar slab waveguides
• Waveguide modes, field distribution, and group velocity
• Rectangular channel
• Single and multi-mode optical fibers
• Propagation constants and velocities
• Waveguide, material and modal dispersion
• Pulse propagation

Electro-optics and Acousto-Optics

• Light propagation in anisotropic media
• Linear electro-optic effect and the electro-optic tensor
• Longitudinal and transverse modulators
• Amplitude modulation, phase modulation
• Mach-Zehnder modulators
• Coupled-mode theory
• Optical coupling between waveguides
• Directional Coupler switch
• Acousto-optic interaction and Bragg diffraction
• The photoelastic effect
• Acousto-optic modulators, deflectors, and scanners

Optoelectronics

• Band Theory
• p-n junctions
• Semiconductor laser amplifiers - gain v/s pumping
• Semiconductor injection lasers; Amplification, feedback, oscillation, power, spectral and spatial distribution, mode selection
• Properties of semiconductor photoconductors
• Quantum efficiency, responsivity, response time
• Photodiodes; p-n and p-i-n hetero structure photodiodes
• Photodetector noise; Thermal and Shot noise

Schematic of an integrated electro-optic modulator