Ph 481   Physical Optics

Physics Department, Oregon State University

Winter 2009 term

Instructor: Oksana Ostroverkhova (Wngr 413)
Lectures: MWF 10am, Weniger 304
Labs: Thu: 9–11:50am or 1–3:50pm (Weniger 426)

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DateLectures AssignmentsNotes
01/05 Waves. HW 1 WS 1
01/07 Plane, spherical and cylindrical waves. HW 2 WS 2
01/09 Electromagnetic waves. HW 3 WS 3 Lab 1
01/12 Photons. Radiation. HW 4 WS 4 EM spectrum (Power Point Presentation from Georgia Tech)
01/14 Addition of waves. HW 5 WS 5
01/16 Interference. HW 6 WS 6 Lab 2
01/19 No class: MLK Day.
01/21 Interference. Interferometers. HW 7 WS 7 Interference of C60 molecules (Nature 1999)
01/23 Introduction to diffraction. HW 8 WS 8 Best Lab Report winner for Lab#1: Michael Paul
01/26 Diffraction on a single slit and on a rectangular aperture. HW 9 WS 9 Lab 3
01/28 Diffraction by many slits. Diffraction grating. HW 10 WS 10
01/30 Diffraction on a circular aperture. HW 11 WS 11 Lab 4
02/02 Fresnel diffraction:introduction. HW 12 WS 12 Best Lab Report winner for Lab#2: Bryan O'Halloran
02/04 Fresnel diffraction: circular apertures. HW 13 WS 13 Speaking of Star Wars: modern research on 3D holograms
02/06 The propagation of light. No HW until after all midterms. But:start reading Chapter 4.   Midterm is set for February 13. Open book. Based on parts of Ch. 2,3,9,10 discussed in class.
02/09 Fresnel equations. Reading: Ch.4.1-4.7.   Best Lab Report winner for Lab#3: Colin Shear
02/11 Fresnel equations. Total internal reflection. Reading: Ch.4.1-4.7. WS 14 Lab 5
02/13 Midterm   (10 am, Weniger 304)     Best Lab Report winner for Lab#4: Alex Brummer
02/16 Total internal reflection. HW 14   Lab 6
02/18 Interference in thin films. Reading: Ch.9.4-9.7. WS 15
02/20 Fabri-Perot interferometer. HW 15 WS 16 Lab 7
02/23 Light in bulk matter. Dispersion. HW 16 WS 17 Best Lab Report winner for Lab#5: Alex Brummer
02/25 Addition of waves of different frequencies. HW 17 WS 18
02/27 Group velocity. Polarization. HW 18 WS 19
03/02 Birefringence. HW 19   Lab 8
03/04 Retarders. HW 20 WS 20 Best Lab Report winners for Lab#6: Colin Podelnyk and Alex Brummer
03/06 Optical Activity. HW 21 WS 21
03/09 Introduction to Fourier Optics. HW 22 WS 22 Lab 9
03/11 Lens as a Fourier transformer. Spatial filtering. HW 23 WS 23 Best Lab Report winner for Lab#7: Ramsi Hawkins
03/13 Introduction to holography.   WS 24