General Information

Fall, Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only (no audit).

Course in introduction to engineering series.

Lasers have had an enormous impact on communications, medicine, remote sensing, and material processing. This course reviews the properties of light that are essential to understanding the underlying principles of lasers and these photonic technologies.

There also is a strong, hands-on laboratory component in which the students build and operate a nitrogen laser and participate in several demonstration experiments such as holography, laser processing of materials, optical tweezers, and fiber optics.

Prerequisites

Topics Covered

  • optics and the characteristics of laser light
  • states of atoms and molecules
  • principles of laser action
  • types of lasers
  • applications of lasers in science, technology, medicine,

Workload

  • 1 problem set per week
  • weekly lab might contain in class-quiz or presentation of your lab component

General Advice

Testimonials

Past Offerings

Semester Professor Median Grade Syllabus
SP24 Chris Xu   AEP1100_SP24.pdf