Laser and Nonlinear Optics

Catalog description

This is a second course on optics and photonics, intended for juniors (and beyond) interested in more advanced topics in modern optics who have already completed ENGN1690 (or equivalent). Topics to be covered include some topics in linear optics (Fourier optics, coherence) and lasers (fundamentals of laser operation, gain and gain saturation, resonators, transient laser phenomena). We will then discuss light-matter interactions in the nonlinear regime, relying on a classical or semi-classical treatment. Topics will include frequency conversion via mixing or parametric processes, and degenerate third-order self-induced effects. Time permitting, we will discuss some of the most recent breakthroughs in optically-driven nonlinear processes such as the generation of attosecond pulses (physics Nobel Prize 2023).