MODERN OPTICS AND LASERS

AP 412 S1 2022
Google Class code “ aec67mi “

By Dr. Dapsy Olatona

Dept of Applied Physics
UNITECH
 Syllabus:
• Review of electromagnetic nature of light, basic theories of
reflection, refraction, interference, diffraction and polarisation,
Total Internal Reflection, frustrated TIR.
• Coherence and interference- Theory of partial coherence,
coherence time and coherence length, coherence and line width,
spatial coherence.
• Diffraction- Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction, Fraunhofer and
Fresnel diffraction patterns, high reflectance and antireflecting
films.
• Lasers – spontaneous emission, stimulated emission, Einstein
coefficients, population inversion, Laser system, cavity
configuration, mode structure and gain. Types of Lasers – Ruby
laser, Nd3+ YAG laser, glass laser, He-Ne laser, Carbon dioxide laser,
semiconductor laser, applications.
• Fibre optics – Optical fibre, light propagation in step index fibre,
numerical aperture, light propagation in graded index fibre, fibre
losses, optical communication, sources and sensors.
• Holography – Basic principle, recording of a hologram,
reconstruction process, types of holograms, applications.
 Textbook:
Guenther, R.D., Modern Optics (Wiley,
1990).
Hetch E. Optics; 4th Edition; Pearson
Education, Inc 2006;
References:
Jones, K.A., Introduction to Optical
Electronics (Harper and Row, 1987).
Watson, J., Optoelectronics
(Van Nostrand Reinhold (UK)
Co Ltd, 1988).
Fowles, G.R., Introduction to
Modern Optics (Holt,
Rinehard and Winston,
1968/1989 Dover Publication
Version).
• And of Course…..
• The Internet
• But be careful when you visit
• Wikipedia and also
• Mr. Thomas’ website
• Why?
 ABOVE ALL

University Physics By Young should

be your “Physics Bible”.
• Approximate Assessment Marks

• 3/4 Quizzes 10%

• 3/4 Assignments 10%
• 1 mid semester Test 20%
• 1 Lab 10%
• 1 Final exam 50 %
Acknowledgement
The contents of these
lectures are the theories
of scientists dating back
to Newton, Maxwell,
Hertz and others.
I presented them here
for my students as I
learnt them from my
lecturers, books and
internet educational
websites.
The original authors of
the theories, ideas,
diagrams and
photographs are all
gratefully acknowledged
herein collectively)
Physics
Physics is the study of the
behavior of nature and the
elements of nature as we found
them. Physics (through
experiments and logic) unfolds
and explains the laws that
govern nature.
It provides acceptable and
sometimes debatable reasons
why the things we see appear
and behave as we see them;
and why the things we
perceive to exist but cannot
see, remain so.
The explanations that physicists
offer for the fundamental laws
of nature in all realms (macro
and micro) are not all obvious,
convincing or infallible; the
science community has put in
place, a process for accepting
the ones that are convincing
and appealing.
The community had also
learnt to live with the
less convincing ones in
the absence of better
alternative concepts yet
to be propounded.
 The 3 Milestones that defines the Era of
Modern Optics
Optics in Physics means ‘light’ to
ordinary People. Optics is therefore
an old science. Old Optics concerns
the production and propagation of
visible light. More broadly, optics is
the study of the electromagnetic
spectrum focusing on the visible area
The theories of lenses,
mirrors, coherence,
interference, diffraction
polarization and the optical
properties of matter are well
explained by the laws of
classical geometric optics.
(1.) The quantum era
(2.) The discovery/rapid
development of the laser and
(3.) Optical fibre technology with
its ever growing applications in
science, medicine and technology
signalled the new era of “Modern
Optics”.
This is aided by research into
optical amplifications,
thermal radiation, absorption
and emission of light by
atoms /molecules and the
quantum view of light as
photons.
Applications of modern optics is
everywhere in our everyday life.
Supermarket scanners, your
flash drives, CD/DVD players,
photo copying machines,
holograms, and fiber optic
communication systems used in
computers and other
telecommunication devices are
among the common examples
To improve modern optics,
researchers use Lasers, fiber
optic interconnects,
computational softwares
optical modulators and
demodulators as the main
tools
A substantial number of
researchers are actively
involved directly (hands-on) in
the industrial development of
lasers and optical fiber
technology.
The electromagnetic nature of light;
The scalar wave equation and its
solution:

It is not unusual for a

scientific concept to
undergo a renaissance.
Optics has undergone a
few. Newton’s corpuscular
theory of light was set
aside in favor of Huygens’
wave theory of light in
1778.
• This is as a result of the
interference, diffraction
and rectilinear propagation
of light experiments by
Thomas Young and Jean
Fresnel
Maxwell (1839-1879)
progressed the wave
theory further and
theorized that light
waves are a form of
electromagnetic energy
• It was confirmed that the
complete spectrum of the
electromagnetic waves
include radio waves,
infrared radiation, visible
light, ultraviolet, x-rays and
gamma rays.
The early 20th century
quantum theories of
Planch, Einstein, de Broglie
and Bohr introduced the
wave-particle duality
phenomenon.
The quantum theory of light
showed that light and indeed
all e.m waves sometimes
behave as waves and at other
times as particles (known as
quantized photons).
So what is the true
nature of light?
There is no simple
answer to this simple
question
However, we do know that a
consistent and non-
contradictory analysis of the
true nature of light can be
found through the study of
Maxwell’s e.m theory and the
quantum theory of light.
The theories are not
contradictory. We simply need
to distinguish that Maxwell’s
theory deals with the
propagation of light while the
quantum theory deals with
the broad aspect of the
interaction of light with matter
and the laws governing the
absorption and emission of light
energy.
• Quantum Electrodynamics is
the study of both
phenomenon.
The wave equation

The wave equation is a second

order partial differential
equation developed during and
through the optical study of
light waves.
• The wave equation is given as

2
𝛿 𝑦 1 2
𝛿 𝑦
• =
𝛿𝑥 2 𝑣 2 𝛿𝑡 2

• It is derivable from first principles

as will be shown below
The wave equation is a
substantial contribution of
optics to science,
mathematics and engineering
because of its relevance in
classical and modern
quantum theory.
The vibrating string,
seismic waves, vibrating
drums and water waves
are few examples of
physical realms where the
wave theory is put into
use.
The hypothetical one-
dimensional mechanical wave
travelling on a vibrating string
is a simple but suitable
concept for the preliminary
understanding of the wave
theory.
•Later on in the semester,
we will expand the
equation to three
dimensions to model
real life coordinates.
For the simple one
dimensional (1-D) transverse
wave travelling along the ‘x’
axis, the displacement is
usually assumed to be a
scalar function.
•This is why the theory
explaining this simple
scenario is dubbed the
scalar wave theory.
To describe this transverse
wave travelling along the x
axis, we need to remember
some elementary
characteristics of mechanical
waves.
1. The wave is ‘transverse’
because the disturbance in the
medium is perpendicular to the
direction of wave propagation.
For a “longitudinal” wave, the
disturbance in the medium is in
the same direction of wave
propagation as shown below
Transverse wave: medium vibrate perpendicular (900) to actual wave propagation direction

Longitudinal wave: medium vibrate parallel to actual wave propagation direction

• What type of wave is this?
• Transverse or longitudinal
2. When one end of the
string is given a repetitive
(periodic/sinusoidal)
motion, we have multiple
crests and valleys
 3. The wave would develop an
Amplitude (A),
wavelength (λ),
frequency (f),
angular frequency ω =2πf, and

1 2𝜋
period T= =
𝑓 𝜔
4. It would travel with speed
v = λf and the reciprocal
of the vacuum wavelength
1/λvac is called the
spectroscopic wave
number ‘ σ ’with units
conveniently given as
1/cm. and not 1/m
• Do not confuse ‘σ ’ with wave
number k defined as
2𝜋
•k=
𝜆
• which is the same as
𝜔
•k=
𝑣
• Essential parameters of EM waves
•Now, For the simple
transverse sinusoidal
wave, if y is the
displacement of the
medium particle along
the y axis at a time t,
it is well established that
to completely describe the
state of the travelling
wave, we need a wave
function ‘y’ which would
obviously be a function of
x and t.
 The mathematical
representation of this
statement is
y = f(x, t).
(f) here is not to be
confused with frequency f
Maybe that’s why Schrodinger call it ψ
The wave function
above can be used to
find the state (position and
motion) of the mechanical
wave at any time t.
And because the motion is
sinusoidal this wave
function is derived and
defined by mathematicians
at time t = 0 as
y (x,t) = A sin ωt ≡ A sin 2πft
 𝑥
Now after a time t2= 𝑣
𝑥
y (x,t) = A sin ω(t -𝑣 )
𝑥
≡ A sin 2πf(t-𝑣), now
if we define a wave vector
k= and ω = vk,
convince yourself that
we can rewrite the wave
function differently as
y (x,t) = A sin (ωt- kx)
and for a wave travelling in
the opposite (–ve x) direction
y (x,t) = A sin (ωt+kx) where
(ωt kx) is called the phase
• Sin or Cos does not matter. Why?
For a sinusoidal wave,
displacement is maximum
when sin (ωt- kx) = 1
and then y = A.
this can only happen if
The phase is
0
(π/2) ≡ 90 , and also at
0
(5π/2) ≡ 450 , etc
Also minimum displacement is
at y = 0, this is when the
phase is 0 or0
0
π ≡ (180 ), or
0
2π ≡ (360 ) etc
•We will now find the
velocity (v) and
acceleration (a) of the
travelling wave from the
known relationships
 v = dy/dt and a = dv/dt
Now if the wave function is
y (x,t) = A sin (ωt-kx)
Then, keeping ‘x’ constant we can
find ‘v’ (the partial derivative of
‘y’) with respect to ‘t’ thus
 = ωAcos (ωt-kx) = velocity
Differentiating again we obtain
2
= - ω A sin(ωt – kx)
We can keep ‘t’ constant and
compute the second order partial
derivative of ‘y’ with respect to
‘x’ and obtain
2
= - k A sin(ωt – kx)
Now

= = = v 2

Because as defined earlier

ω = vk and v =
Quiz - From last slide, prove that
2
𝛿 𝑦 1 2
𝛿 𝑦
=
𝛿𝑥 2 𝑣 2 𝛿𝑡 2
(this is the Wave Equation)

The equation is valid for a

wave travelling in either
the +ve or –ve x direction
• Solution to quiz
It is well established that if the
tension of the string at
equilibrium position is τ and if the
linear mass per unit length (linear
mass density) is µ then the wave
speed (v) of the travelling wave is
given as
• Our wave equation in terms of these new
definitions is now

• =

• This representation is what you will find in the

classical mechanics textbook or the notebook
of your friend in Mechanical Eng.
• The wave equation given earlier is the wave
equation for AP 422 modern optics
• We now know the wave
equation but what is (are)
the solution(s) of the
equation?
• y(x, t) = f(x ± vt) are two
possible solutions written
earlier as A sin (ωt ± kx).
• The order of writing the
argument in the bracket is
not important. Also, it is
not important if we express
the solution as a sine or
cosine function.
At time t = 0,
• y(x, 0) = f(x ± v0)
• = A sin ± kx.
• k is a dimensionless
propagation constant
introduced to ensure that
the argument of the sine
function is unitless.
•The wave function
repeats itself after
travelling a distance λ.
This is why k is defined
as k = 2π/λ
• Note that the wave function f
is an arbitrary function. It is a
twice differentiable function of
the variable (x ± vt). This
variable must appear as a
single unit. It makes no
difference if it is squared or
cubed.
• A sin (ωt ± kx) is a simple and
special progressive harmonic
wave because at t=0 and x=0
• f(x, t) = f(0,0) = 0.
What if our f(x,t) ≠ 0 at x = t = 0.
We can represent this simply
by introducing another
parameter ‘ε’ thus
• A sin (ωt ± kx + ε) where ε is the
initial phase or phase difference.
• By Fourier methods, complicated
profiles of sums of sine functions
can be mathematically
synthesized (generated) fairly
easily.
• Exponential functions such as
y(x, t) = Ae-(2x+3t)

• is also a known solution for

the wave equation
𝛿2𝜓 1 𝛿2𝜓
• 2 =
𝛿𝑥 𝑣 2 𝛿𝑡 2
• We can generalize the equation in
three dimensions simply as
𝛿2𝜓 𝛿2𝜓 𝛿2𝜓 1 𝛿2𝜓
• + + =
𝛿𝑥 2 𝛿𝑦 2 𝛿𝑧 2 𝑣 2 𝛿𝑡 2
• Solutions of this equation
associated with plane waves and
spherical waves are relevant to
the study of optics
• The derivative of this expression,
(studied in quantum physics AP 373) in
Schrödinger equation as ᴪ( r̅,t) is linear
and its derivative is to the first power
only.
• Also the individual solutions of the
three dimensional wave equation can
be
• ᴪ1( r̅,t), ᴪ2( r̅,t), ᴪ3( r̅,t)………ᴪn( r̅,t)
or any linear combination of these
• And when we apply the boundary
conditions and normalization
requirements, we say that

• ᴪ( r̅, t) = ( r̅, t)

satisfies the wave equation.

Where the coefficient ᴪi are arbitrary
constants