Skip to main content
Library homepage
 

Text Color

Text Size

 

Margin Size

 

Font Type

Enable Dyslexic Font
Physics LibreTexts

External Resources - Instructor Manual

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

This manual is designed to help instructors effectively use the open-educational book “ECE 5143: Intro to Optics and Photonics” in active learning environments. The goal of the course is to engage senior undergraduate and 1st-year graduate students in higher-order thinking activities during class, leveraging pre-class video content to maximize in-class learning outcomes.

Below is a list of guidelines to facilitate the adoption of this OER book:

Instructor Preparation

  1. Review Pre-Class Material:
    • Ensure students have access to pre-class videos and any accompanying materials.
    • Identify key points and potential areas of confusion.
  2. Prepare In-Class Activities:
    • Design 2-4 problems/activities that build on the video content.
      • Include a mix of individual, pair, and group activities.
      • Include problem-based learning, concept application activities, think-pair-share, peer teaching, and role play/simulation
  3. Plan for Assessment:
    • Develop quick formative assessments (e.g., quizzes, polls) to check students’ understanding.
      • Quizzes: Use short quizzes at the start of each class to reinforce key concepts.
      • Polls: Conduct live polls using tools like Kahoot! or Mentimeter to gauge student understanding.
    • Develop summative assessments to dissect students' understanding
      • Projects: Assign 2-4 individual/group projects where students apply concepts to a comprehensive problem or application-based problem
      • Exams: Include both conceptual and application-based questions.
  4. Providing Feedback
  • Offer immediate feedback during class activities.
  • Use peer feedback during group discussions and projects.
  • When it is possible, provide feedback within a week window.

Student Preparation

1. Students are required to watch instructional videos before coming to class. These videos introduce key concepts, allowing class time to be used for:

  • Problem-solving exercises
  • Group discussions
  • Hands-on activities

2. Complete any required pre-class quizzes or reading assignments.

3. Submit a 1-page hand-written summary of the class notes taken while watching the class video.

4. Come prepared with questions.

Suggested Course Schedule

Class no.

Module

Lecture Topic

1

Geometrical/Ray Optics

Postulates and Rules in Ray Optics

2

Mirrors

3

Planar Boundaries, External and internal refraction, Total internal reflection

4

Spherical Boundaries and Lenses

5

Matrix Optics and 4f imaging system

6

Wave Optics

Postulates of Wave Optics, Monochromatic Waves, Helmholtz equation

7

Elementary Waves: plane, spherical and paraboloidal waves

8

Relation ray-wave optics, interference of two waves, interferometers

9

Young experiment

10

Beam Optics

Gaussian beam: features and mathematical description

11

Properties of Gaussian beams

12

Propagation of Gaussian beams through optical systems

13

Fourier Optics

Space vs Fourier Domains, Principle of Fourier Optics, Linear Systems and Shift-invariant Systems

14

Impulse response and Transfer function in free propagation

15

Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction patterns

16

Lenses, Optical Fourier Transforms, 4f imaging system and spatial filtering

17

Electromagnetics (EM) Optics

Maxwell equations, Boundaries Conditions, Poynting theorem, EM waves in a dielectric medium

18

Monochromatic EM waves, absorption and dispersion

19

Polarization Optics

Poincare sphere – linear, circular and elliptical polarization; Natural light; Polarizers and Malus’ law

20

Birefringent Crystals, Retarders, Stokes formalism

21

Jones formalism, Polarization by reflection, Brewster angle

Note that other sequences are also possible. For example, some instructors may prefer the following sequence:

  1. Module 1: Geometrical/Ray Optics
  2. Module 2: Wave Optics
  3. Module 3: Electromagnetics (EM) Optics
  4. Module 4: Polarization Optics
  5. Module 5: Gaussian Optics
  6. Module 6: Fourier Optics

External Resources - Instructor Manual is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

Support Center

How can we help?