Announcements 11/22/10 Prayer No office hours tomorrow (neither TA nor I),

even though we do have class. Exam 3 starts Tuesday after the break. Lab 10 (final lab) going on right now. Due

the Tuesday after the break.

Reading quiz

Which of the following is NOT true of the wave vector?

a. Its magnitude is equal to 2/.b. In a plane wave it points in the same

direction everywhere in space.c. In a spherical wave it points in the

same direction everywhere in space.d. It tells us which way the wave is

going.e. In one dimension it reduces to the

wave number k.

Waves in 3-dimensions

Plane wavesa. polarization

Wave vectora. direction of wave

Spherical waves

Student-designed problem

What direction do you want the wave to be traveling in?

What direction do you want the wave to be oscillating in?

What wavelength do you want the wave to have?

What do you want the wave’s amplitude to be?

What frequency (or velocity) do you want the wave to have?

What do you want the overall phase of the wave to be?

Lasers

What makes a laser special? (answers from class)

Some of my answers:a. Single wavelengthb. Intensec. Collimatedd. Coherence (spatial,

temporal) - 99.9999999999%

Actual laser spectrum over 100 narrower than the width of the

red line

Blackbody spectrum

Laser spectrum

Lasers

Principal components:1. Gain medium2. Laser pumping energy3. High reflector4. Output coupler5. Laser beam

Energy (light,

electrical, etc.)

AbsorptionEmission

light

Stimulated Emission

Image & list from Wikipedia

Energy (light only)

More Wikipedia

Green laser pointer

1. Gain medium2. Laser pumping energy3. High reflector4. Output coupler5. Laser beam

More Wikipedia

Circular Polarization

Pictures from Wikipedia

Remember these pictures?

Optical Retarders, aka “Wave plates”

Quartz, SiO2: no = 1.544, ne = 1.553

Calcite, CaCO3: no = 1.658, ne = 1.486

Pictures from Wikipedia

Calcite crystal:

Optical Modulators

Electro-optic modulator Acousto-optic modulator

AOM

EOM

www.newport.com wikipedia

Field changes vertical index of

refraction

That’s All! (for optics)

Survey (right now) about exam 3 review session times for Monday next week