OPTI 471A
Printable Syllabus (PDF)

Advanced Optics Laboratory (2 Units). Beam alignment, data acquisition and signal processing, spectrometers, incoherent sources, thermal and photon detectors, array detectors, polarization, optical properties of materials, scanners and modulators, image acquisition and processing, properties of the eye. Prerequisites: ECE 207, OPTI 330, 370. Concurrent Registration: 406.

Professor:
Professor Robert A. Norwood, College of Optical Sciences, Room 533, Lab 456
520-626-0936; rnorwood@optics.arizona.edu

Lectures: Mondays, 11:00 - 11:50 in Meinel 408

Laboratory: Meinel 454, 626-9673

Laboratory Sections (No Section 1)
Section Day Time TA
#2 M 6:00 - 9:50PM TBA
#3 T 8:00 - 11:50AM TBA
#4 W 11:00 - 2:50PM TBA
#5 W 6:00 - 9:50PM TBA
#6 Th 8:00 - 11:50AM TBA
#7 F 11:00 - 2:50PM TBA

Class Web Site: D2L

Prof. Norwood’s Office Hours: Thursday 3:30-4:30 p.m. or by appointment.

Teaching Assistants:
Oscar Martinez, Alexander Miles and Jeffrey Morris

Textbook: No textbook. Handouts will be provided and background/reference readings are posted on the class D2L site.

Lab handouts: Each lab has a handout describing the laboratory procedures. The prelab questions are to be completed and handed in at the beginning of your laboratory session in 454. The postlab questions are due in class at the lecture following the lab. Lab instruction handouts may be revised during the term so check for current versions.

Lab notebooks: Students are highly recommended to keep detailed lab notebooks for recording procedures, data, and analysis. Lab notebooks will not be collected or graded but can be used during tests. Lecture notes and copies of relevant information from handouts can also be put into the lab notebook.

Exams: There will be a midterm quiz and a final exam.

Filmed lab summaries:
Every week each group will record a 4-minute video oral lab summary. At the end of your lab session the TA will assist you in filming your group’s lab summary. Within the four minutes everyone in the group must speak at least once. Excerpts will be shown in class.

Lab makeup policy:
One lab can be missed and made up during the semester. Other missed labs will receive pre-lab, post-lab and video summary grades of zero.

Written lab report: Each student will be required to select one lab during the semester on which to submit a comprehensive lab report that includes detailed descriptions of the procedures, data and analysis (including error analysis) as well as references to relevant literature. The last day to hand in this report is November 28th.

Grading:
  • Pre-lab and post-lab questions - 25%
  • Video summaries - 20%
  • Mid-term quiz - 20%
  • Laboratory report - 10%
  • Final exam - 25%
Prelab and postlab questions
  • Prelab questions are to be handed in at the lecture before the lab.
  • Post lab questions are due at the lecture after the lab.
  • Prelab questions for the first two weeks should be handed in together with the post lab.
  • Questions are graded on a scale of 0-10 points. Three points per problem will be deducted for late homework.
  • Homework solutions will be available in lecture and will not be posted to D2L.
Cell phones and laptops
Cell phones and laptop computers must be off during lectures. During laboratories, necessary cell phone conversations should take place in the hall outside the laboratory. Laptop use in the laboratories is encouraged to assist in the generation of data plots and analysis. Cell phones and calculators will be collected before tests and returned at the end.

Course Objectives:
  1. Apply the optical principles discussed in the junior and senior level optics courses to experimental situations.
  2. Clearly and accurately summarize and communicate experimental procedures and results.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of error analysis and curve fitting.
  4. Learn common optical methods and procedures that are routinely used in the optics and photonics industry.
  5. Understand safe and proper handling of common optical equipment.
  6. Work in teams to solve design problems.
Lab Schedule
Eleven labs related to optical test and measurement are scheduled. Labs are available for setup for two weeks at a time. Each section is divided into the A groups which start each two week period with the first lab listed (Lab 1, Lab 3, ...), while the B groups start with the second lab listed (Lab 2, Lab 4,…). In the second week of the two week period the groups switch to the lab that they didn’t do during the first week. The following lab schedule is subject to change.
  • August 22 - Lecture 1: Expectations, error analysis, curve fitting, lab orientation;
  • August 29 - Lecture 2: Lab 1 – Monochromators and Spectrophotometers


  • Two weeks starting Monday, September 12th
    1 Monochromators and Spectrophotometers
    2 Mueller Matrix Polarimetry

  • Two Weeks starting Monday, September 26
    3 Incoherent Sources
    4 Acousto-optic Modulators

  • Two Weeks starting Monday, October 10
    5 Interferometry 1 - Sagnac Interferometer
    6 Faraday Rotation & Stress Optic Coefficient

  • Two Weeks starting Monday, October 24
    7 Interferometry 2 – Mach Zehnder Interferometer
    8 Polarizing Interferometer

  • Two Weeks starting Monday, November 7
    9 Geometrical Optical Tests: Foucault, Star and, Schlieren Tests
    10 Fiber Coupling and Optical Circulators

  • Two Weeks starting Monday, Nov. 21
    11 Modelocked Laser Lab

  • In-class final during lecture on Dec. 5