About this course: Optical instruments are how we see the world, from corrective eyewear to medical endoscopes to cell phone cameras to orbiting telescopes. This course will teach you how to design such optical systems with simple mathematical and graphical techniques. The first order optical system design covered in the previous course is useful for the initial design of an optical imaging system but does not predict the energy and resolution of the system. This course discusses the propagation of intensity for Gaussian beams and incoherent sources. It also introduces the mathematical background required to design an optical system with the required field of view and resolution. You will also learn how to analyze these characteristics of your optical system using an industry-standard design tool, OpticStudio by Zemax.
Who is this class for: This course is primarily aimed at optical engineers working in the industry as well as graduate students and other engineers needing to optical design to their skill set.
Created by: University of Colorado Boulder
Taught by: Amy Sullivan, Research Associate
Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering
Taught by: Robert McLeod, Professor
Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering
| Level | Advanced |
| Commitment | 6 weeks of study, 4 - 6 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| Hardware Req | You will need a computer running Windows. |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Geometrical Optics for Gaussian Beams
First order optical system design using rays is useful for the initial design of an optical imaging system, but does not predict the energy and resolution of the system. This module introduces Gaussian beams, an specific example of how the shape of the light evolves in an imaging system.
12 videos, 2 readings, 3 practice quizzes
- Discussion Prompt: Goals for the course
- Reading: Course overview
- Reading: Tools and Resources
- Discussion Prompt: Matlab Questions and Concerns
- Video: Light has a shape
- Video: The Gaussian beam
- Practice Quiz: Gaussian Beam Practice Problems
- Video: The Gaussian q parameter
- Video: The evolution of the q parameter
- Video: Gaussian Beam Propagation Lab Demo
- Video: Ray tracing Gaussian beams
- Video: Examples of ray tracing Gaussian beams
- Practice Quiz: Gaussian Beam OpticStudio Practice
- Video: Do Gaussian beams obey imaging?
- Discussion Prompt: Gaussian Beam Propagation GUI
- Video: The Lagrange invariant
- Video: The post-doc's tale
- Discussion Prompt: The post doc's tale: Problems in your lab
- Video: Design of a fiber to fiber coupler
- Discussion Prompt: Fiber coupler OpticStudio Practice
- Practice Quiz: Practice Problem
Graded: Gaussian Beams
WEEK 2
Maxwell's Equations
This module provides the background for the full electro-magnetic field description of optical systems, including a description of plane and spherical waves and a formal treatment of reflection and refraction from this perspective. We start out with a quick review of the mathematical background for this description. This will be fairly short, but you may want to spend some more time reviewing these concepts on your own if you have not seen them for a while.
8 videos, 1 reading, 2 practice quizzes
- Video: Lorentz oscillator
- Practice Quiz: Absorption Practice
- Video: Wave equation
- Video: Plane waves
- Reading: Spatial Frequency Introduction
- Video: Spatial frequency
- Discussion Prompt: Spatial Frequency Matlab GUI
- Video: Spherical waves
- Video: Fresnel coefficients
- Video: Brewster's Angle Laboratory Demonstration
- Discussion Prompt: Polarization: Sunglasses and the Sky
- Practice Quiz: Practice Problems
Graded: Maxwell's Equations
WEEK 3
Impulse Responses and Transfer Functions
This module provides an introduction to the basics of Fourier Optics, which are used to determine the resolution of an imaging system. We will discuss a few Fourier Transforms that show up in standard optical systems in the first subsection and use these to determine the system resolution, and then discuss the differences between coherent and incoherent systems and impulse responses and transfer functions in the second subsection. We will wrap up with a discussion of these concepts using OpticStudio.
10 videos, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Fourier Transform of the Gaussian Beam
- Video: The Airy disk
- Practice Quiz: Airy Disk OpticStudio Practice
- Discussion Prompt: Fourier Transform with Lenses Matlab GUI
- Video: Cutoff Frequency
- Video: The coherent transfer function
- Video: The relation of impulse response and transfer function
- Video: Incoherent impulse response
- Video: Optical transfer function
- Video: Summary
- Video: Implementation in OpticStudio
Graded: Impulse Responses
WEEK 4
Finite Aperture Optics
This module takes the concepts of pupils and resolution that we have discussed in the previous modules and works through how to apply them to our first-order optical design systems. We start with a description of how to find the system pupils and windows, then move on to a discussion of how that affects the imaging properties of this system, and finally return to the Lagrange invariant and its utility in optical system design.
11 videos, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Field stop and windows
- Video: Lyot stop
- Video: Stops Laboratory Demonstration
- Video: Effective NA and F#
- Video: Depth of focus
- Video: Vignetting
- Video: Telecentric imaging
- Discussion Prompt: Telecentric Imaging OpticStudio Example
- Video: Lagrange invariant
- Video: Resolvability
- Video: Example and Phase Space
- Practice Quiz: Finite Aperture Practice
- Discussion Prompt: Keplerian Telescope Design
Graded: Fine Aperture Optics
WEEK 5
Radiometry
One of the main questions you ask when designing an optical system is "How much light can I get through the system?" In this last section of new content for this course, we move from talking about resolution to talking about the amount of light we expect at each point in the optical system, a field of study called radiometry.
10 videos, 1 reading
- Video: Radiometry units
- Video: Solid angle
- Reading: Introduction to Blackbody Radiation
- Video: Blackbody radiation
- Video: Lasers vs. lamps
- Video: Tilted sources
- Video: Cos 4th law
- Video: Constant radiance theorem
- Video: Constant radiance theorem again
- Video: Example
Graded: Radiometry
WEEK 6
Capstone
This module is a peer-reviewed design project that uses all of the concepts in this course. There are no videos or new information and this gives you a chance to put everything you have learned together into a design problem.
2 readings
- Reading: Introduction to the capstone
- Reading: Starting your design
Graded: Capstone design equations
Graded: Capstone design project
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