PH40086: Photonics
[Page last updated: 23 April 2025]
| Academic Year: | 2025/26 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Physics |
| Credits: | 6 [equivalent to 12 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 120 |
| Level: | Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7) |
| Period: |
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| Assessment Summary: | EX 100% |
| Assessment Detail: |
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| Supplementary Assessment: |
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| Requisites: | Before or while taking this module you must ( take PH20017 OR take PH20063 ) AND ( take PH30030 OR take PH30043 OR take PH30134 ) AND ( take PH30077 OR take PH30043 ) |
| Learning Outcomes: |
After taking this unit the student should be able to:
* discuss the properties of waveguide modes as solutions to the scalar wave equation; * describe in detail the properties of coupled waveguides, multicore fibres and waveguide transitions; * explain the physical origins and implications of loss and dispersion in practical waveguides; * describe the unique properties of photonic crystal fibres; * give a detailed explanation of the basic properties of photonic bandgaps and defects in 2-D photonic crystals; * demonstrate an understanding of the applications of the Lorentz oscillator model to describe nonlinear optical phenomena; * demonstrate an understanding of the physical manifestations of the nonlinear refractive index on beam propagation; * discuss the meaning and applications of the phase matching conditions in frequency conversion; * discuss and mathematically describe nonlinear effects in optical fibres. |
| Content: | Optical waveguides (11 hours): Waveguide modes; scalar wave equation, mode excitation and propagation, transitions, chromatic dispersion. Coupled modes; directional coupling, multicore fibres, supermodes, phase-matching, leakage and bending loss. Photonic crystal fibres; index guiding fibres, endlessly single mode fibres, solid- and hollow-core photonic bandgap fibres.
Nonlinear optics (11 hours): Linear and nonlinear susceptibilities, saturation effects. Nonlinear refractive index; focusing and defocusing nonlinearities. Nonlinear beam propagation, filamentation, Lorentz oscillator model and nonlinear wave mixing. Nonlinear resonators. Second harmonic generation; parametric frequency conversion, phase-matching. Nonlinear optics in fibres; group velocity dispersion, nonlinear Schrödinger equation, four-wave mixing, Raman and Brillouin effects, nonlinear phase modulation. Short pulses and solitons in optical fibres. Optical supercontinuum. |
| Skills: | Numeracy T/F A, Problem Solving T/F A. |
| Aims: | The aim of this unit is to develop students' understanding of the fundamental physics underlying both linear and nonlinear interactions of light with matter. A further aim is to describe how these interactions may be manipulated and enhanced by means of periodically patterned and microstructured optical waveguides. |
| Course availability: |
PH40086 is Optional on the following courses:Department of Physics
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Notes:
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