Optics laboratories (spring)

General supporting items and linguistics.

• Course overview
• Laser safety
• Measurements and error analysis

Schedule of TPs and student grouping. Please check often for updates.

Due to the social distancing requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be able to go back to the lab this semester. To complete the course, we will now concentrate on two "virtual" experiments as a lab exercise, where MATLAB-based simulation tools will be provided for the students to perform the experiments numerically and report on them.

• Couple light into a multimode/single mode optical fiber.
• Characterize in- and output of a fiber including loss

• Alignment and characterization of a wavelength tunable external cavity diode laser by means of a Mems grating
• Understand the working principle of a tunable Mems grating

• Design and align Fourier optics setup.
• Analyze diffraction patterns

• Setup and align different Fabry-Perot interferometers

• Study modes and stability of different configurations

• Spectral characterization of light sources
• Measurement of external quantum efficiency
• Opto-electrical characteristics (U-I -curve) and modeling with an equivalent circuit

• Characterize diode lasers
• Measure the amplified spontaneous emission spectrum
• Characterize the amplifier gain saturation in various configurations
• Optional: Build a fiber laser

• version V3 with some small correction of errors
  

• Observation of the photoelastic effect
• Measure stress in transparent material by means of photoelasticity
• Manipulate the polarization state of light, from linear to circular polarization and back

• Learn how to digitally record the phase and amplitude distribution of a light beam
  
• Learn how to generate arbitrary phase and amplitude distributions 
  
• Apply these techniques to model and control light propagation through a seemingly random optical system 

• Wave propagation in free space, waveguides, and resonators
• Learn FDTD and FEM simulations of electromagnetic waves with Lumerical and COMSOL
• Experimental verifications of simulation results
  

• Study imaging behaviour of achromats in simulation and experiment
• Design a Triplet lens system with out of shelf lenses
• Build and characterize the performance of the Triplet lens system

The aim of this laboratory work is to acquire practical experience in optical and electrical characterization of liquid crystal materials in a liquid crystal cell. Transmission, capacitance and spectral behavior of different liquid crystal textures will be analyzed.