Chapters 1 to 5
Chapters 6 to 10
Course Curriculum
Instructor: Govind P. Agrawal, Office: Goergen 515, Tel: 275-4846
Email: gpa@optics.rochester.edu
Time and Location: Mondays and Wednesdays, 3:25 to 4:40pm, Goergen 109
Grading Scheme: Homework 30%, Midterm Exam 30%, Final Exam 40%
The course is designed to give the student an understanding of the theory behind optical waveguides, both planar and cylindrical kinds, using Maxwell’s equations as a starting point. The later half of the course will focus on a variety of fiber- and semiconductor-based devices used for applications related to lightwave technology. The following topics are covered.
Introduction: Basic concepts, total internal reflection, geometrical-optics description of guided modes, Maxwell’s equations and their simple solutions.
Planar Waveguides: Modes of planar waveguides, TE and TM modes of symmetric asymmetric waveguides, rectangular waveguides and their modes, different materials and techniques used for waveguide fabrication.
Optical Fibers: Design and fabrication of optical fibers, modes of cylindrical waveguides, loss, and dispersion in optical fibers, nonlinear effects in fibers.
Passive Fiber Components: Directional couplers, coupled-mode equations, fiber gratings, Bragg diffraction, photonic bandgap, fiber interferometers, isolators and circulators.
Active Fiber Components: Doped fiber amplifiers, Raman amplifiers, parametric amplifiers, fiber lasers, mode-locking techniques for fiber lasers, nonlinear fiber-loop mirrors.
Active Semiconductor Devices: Semiconductor lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers, physics behind optical modulators, different types of modulators, photodetectors.
WDM Components: Various types of optical filters, channel multiplexers and demultiplexers, optical add-drop multiplexers, WDM transmitters and receivers.
Optical Switching: Electro-optic, thermo-optic, micro-mechanical, and liquid-crystal switches, wavelength converters, optical cross-connects, flip-flops, ultrafast interferometric switches.
Course Textbook: G. P. Agrawal, Lightwave Technology: Components and Devices, (Wiley, 2004). Make sure that the book contains a CD containing design software.
Reference books: K. Okamoto, Fundamentals of Optical Waveguides (Academic Press, 2000); C. R. Pollock, Fundamentals of Optoelectronics (Irwin, 2003).