This course is part of our Photonics Teaching Program.
TBC
TBC
TBC
ECTS credits: 3
This includes 30 hours of lectures, and an extra 60 hours for preparation and to work on the design study.
Prerequisites: Optics, electromagnetism
Compulsory program: Active participation, submission of report with design study.
Course assessment: A project report with a design study
Instructors: Nick Volet
1. Optical spectrum
Autocorrelation and power spectral density (PSD)
Wiener-Khintchine theorem.
Ensemble average. Stationarity and ergodicity.
Phase noise, frequency noise and intrinsic linewidth.
Lorentzian spectrum of an ideal laser.
Flicker noise and dither tones.
Spectrum of a real laser.
2A. Linewidth measurement
Delayed self heterodyne (DSH) method.
TBC.
2B. Frequency-noise measurement
Interferometers. Locking.
Coherent receiver.
3. Optical feedback
Effective reflection coefficient.
The round-trip gain in the compound cavity.
Cavity resonance frequencies and emission frequencies.
Condition for emission frequencies in the presence of feedback
Change of emission frequency for weak feedback.
Criteria for single/multi-mode emission.
4. Photon density and laser phase
Rate equations for the photon density and for the laser phase.
Effect of optical feedback and spontaneous emission.
5. Langevin formalism
Stochastic rate equations.
Langevin equation.
6. Ensemble averages
Second moments and diffusion coefficients.
Power spectral density (PSD).
7. Frequency-noise plots
Intrinsic linewidth.
8. Stabilization
Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) loops.
9. The MFB laser
Device design.
For registration and inquiries, please send an email to Nick Volet.
Slides and other files are available at this SharePoint site.
LaTeX files (for booklets and exercises) are available at this Overleaf project.
