Physics 237A - Optical Physics - Physics of Laser Oscillators and Amplifiers
This course presents the physics of laser oscillators and amplifiers - what they are, how they work and potential uses. It is intended as both a general breadth course for non-specialists and as the first course for students planning further study either in optical physics or in areas of science that require the development and/or use advanced laser systems. The treatment is limited primarily but not exclusively to steady-state behavior and uses semi-classical models for atomic transitions.
Prerequisites: Electro-magnetic theory at the advanced undergraduate level (Maxwell’s equations, plane waves, electric polarization, properties of dielectric materials); knowledge of modern physics (Bohr atomic model, discrete energy levels); undergraduate optics (index of refraction, diffraction, reflection, refraction).
Concurrent with: PHYSICS 147C.