Module description
The aim of the module is to provide students with a basic understanding of the fundamentals of optics. Part of the course is concerned with geometrical or ray optics, from the basic principles of reflection and refraction to the properties of lenses and simple optical instruments. Another section deals with physical or wave optics, concerning interference, Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction and leading on to polarisation and the optical properties of birefringent crystals. The course ends with an introduction to the modern topics of holography and non-linear optics.

Module objectives / Learning outcomes
After taking this module students should be able to:

• Understand the basic principles of geometrical optics and apply them to the design of simple optical instruments.
• Understand optical interference and its uses in optical devices and techniques.
• Understand diffraction and the limits it sets to the resolution of optical instruments.
• Understand the basic principles of polarisation and wave propagation in uniaxial crystals.
• Answer numerical problems in geometrical and wave optics applied to simple systems.

Additional learning activities
Video on Optical Interference.

Outline syllabus
GEOMETRICAL OPTICS

Reflection and refraction, lenses, aberrations, optical instruments.

PHYSICAL OPTICS

Wave properties of light.
Interference, two-beam interference, then film interference and its applications.
Michelson interferometer, multiple-beam interference, Fabry-Perot etalon.
Diffraction, Fraunhofer, single slit resolution, double slit, diffraction grating, introduction to Fresnel diffraction.
Polarisation, birefringence, uniaxial crystals.

MODERN OPTICS
Introduction to holography and non-linear optics.