Photonics

Higher education teachers: Krč Janez
Collaborators: Lipovšek Benjamin

Subject description

Prerequisits:

• enrolment in the third academic year of the first cycle
• basic knowledge on semiconductor devices

Content (Syllabus outline):

The following chapters are included in the course:

LIGHT: photon and wave model, complex refractive index, reflection, refraction, scattering, radio- and photo-metry

OPTICAL SOURCES: Light emitting diodes (LED): direct semiconductors, spontaneous emission, LED structures, practical applications, driver circuits, organic LED (OLEDs); Lasers: operational principle, stimulated emission, main parts of a gas laser, optical amplification and losses, spectrum and shape of the output beam, applications of lasers

Laser diodes (LD): structures, operational principle, practical applications (e.g. DVD, Blu ray reader)

DISPLAYS: structure and operation of LCD, LED, plasma and OLED displays

PHOTODETECTORS: semiconductor photodetectors (pn, pin, heterodiode, avalance, phototransistor), circuits with photodetectors, operational principles and structures of CCD, CMOS detector arrays

OPTICAL FIBERS: guiding light in a fiber, single and multimode fibers, attenuation, dispersion

PHOTOVOLTAICS: how a solar cell work, technologies of solar cells and photovoltaics modules, photovoltaic systems, practical steps in design of a solar power plant, examples

5 tasks are conducted from the above mentioned topics within the practice work of the course.

Objectives and competences:

• to acquire the basic knowledge on operational principles of photonic/optoelectronic devices
• knowledge on state-of-the-art structures of the devices devices and technologies
• practical usage of the devices (within practical work)

Intended learning outcomes:

• fundamental knowledge on photonics and optoelectronics
• basic understanding of operational principles of the devices
• abilities to use and implement devices in circuits and systems
  

Learning and teaching methods:

• lectures (mostly slides)
• practice work (hands on, before written examination different tasks are solved together)

Study materials

Readings:

1. B. E. A. Saleh, Fundamentals of photonics, Wiley, 2007.
2. J. P. Dakin, R. G. W. Brown, Handbook of optoelectronics, CRC Press 2006.
3. F. G. Smith, T. A. King, D. Wilkins, Optics and Photonics - An Introduction, Wiley, 2007.
4. A. Luque, S. Hegedus, Handbook of photovoltaic science and engineering, Wiley, 2011.