PHYS 564- Lasers II (Spring 2021)

Instructor

Prof. Mansoor Sheik-Bahae

To see me in my office (PAIS 2220), please stop by or make an appointment (call or email)

 Reference Textbooks

  • Laser Electronics by J.T. Verdeyen
  • Optical Electronics in Modern Communications by Amnon Yariv
  • Physics of Optoelectronic Devices by S. L. Chuang
  • Lasers by Milonni and Eberly
  • Photonics by Saleh and Teich
  • Theory of Optical Properties in Semiconductors by P. K. Basu

Pre-requisites

Advanced Optics, Laser Physics I, (Check UNM Catalog for more details). Basic knowledge of Quantum Mechanics is also required.

Teaching Assistant

Mingyang Zhang

Assignments

Homework problem sets will be assigned on a regular basis throughout the semester.

Assignment #Due DateDescriptionSolution
 1  1/27/21pdf 
22/15/21pdf 

3

3/3/21pdf 

4

3/24/21pdf 

 5

4/19pdf 

Take Home Exam 

To be posted on April 22

4/26 PDF 

Presentations

 

Potential Topics for Final Projects (Submit a title and an abstract by May 1st.)You may choose from the following list or suggest your own topic

Physics and Properties of Semiconductor Devices

  • Semiconductor Quantum Dot Lasers
  • Optically Pumped Semiconductor Lasers
  • Quantum Cascade Lasers
  • Pushing the modulation BW of diode lasers

Ultrafast

  • PW Femtosecond Systems and Applications
  • Kerr Combs
  • Advances in Attosceince and HHG
  • Ultrafast Characterization
  • High Intensity Interactions (e.g. Relativistic)
  • THz Frontiers

Photonics

  • Metamaterials
  • New Frontiers in Optical Telecom

Please let me know the title of your final presentation no later than Nov. 28

Final Presentations

 

  • An oral presentation ( maximum of 18 minutes) is expected on each subject
  • There will be an additional 3-5 minutes for question and answer at the end of each presentation
  • All students enrolled are required to attend every presentation by their classmates and preferably participate in the discussions
  • The presentations should be clear and understandable by all the students. Use equations sparingly (only if needed) and avoid crowded slides. Remember that you are responsible for making the class understand the topic. Do not try to cover too much material

Useful Tips and Articles for Student Presentations

Project Title

Presenter

Day

Photonic Doppler VelocimetryDarryl Benally  TBD
Ultrashort Pulse, High Peak Power LasersXiaobing Zhu TBD
Ahmed, Hasan 
Kock, Jackson 
 
Meta-Surface Photonics Meinelt, Zachary Kenneth 
Zhang, Mingyang 
 
 

Tests

There will be one midterm exam and a final presentation.

Midterm Test Date

Check the UNM's Office of Registrar for possible changes in the Final exam schedule.

Grading

(subject to change): The final grade is weighted as follows:

  • Midterms: 35%
  • Final Presentation and Term Paper: 35%
  • Homework: 20%
  • Attendance and Active Engagement During Lectures 

Some of the topics covered in this course may vary depending on the overall students' interests and requests.

  • Review of laser principles (1-2 lectures)
  • Semiconductor Lasers (11 lectures)
    • Review of band-theory
    • k.p theory and effective mass approximation
    • Derivation of optical transitions and gain in semiconductors
    • Optical propagation in dielectric waveguides
    • Heterojunction lasers
    • Quantum-confined structures, multiple quantum well (MQW) lasers
    • Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL)
    • Optically Pumped Semiconductors Lasers
    • Quantum-cascade lasers
  • Optical Detectors and Detection Techniques (3 lectures)
  • Statistical Optics (2 lectures)
  • Topics in Ultrafast Phenomena (Femtosecond Metrology, Extreme Nonlinear Optics & Atto-Science) (5-6 lectures)
  • Terahertz radiation (T-rays) and applications (2-3 lectures)

Other topics may include:

  • NanoOptics, Plasmonics
  • Unstable resonators and applications
  • Maxwell-Bloch equations, coherent transient effects

Class handout

DOWNLOADS & LINKS

Physics and Properties of Semiconductor Devices

Ultrafast