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| Module Availability |
Spring semester |
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| Assessment Pattern |
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Components of Assessment
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Method(s)
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Percentage Weighting
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Closed-book examination
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Written
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70%
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Team-based design project
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Oral and written presention of results
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30%
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| Module Overview |
| The module addresses the advanced physics and technology of photonic structures and devices where the photons and/or electrons are spatially confined to dimensions comparable to their wavelength. |
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| Prerequisites/Co-requisites |
None |
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| Module Aims |
Specific aims are to provide students with:
- an introduction to the fundamentals of photon and electron confinement
- an overview of photonics and nanotechnology to enable the student to enter research and development in these fields.
- examples of the application of nanophotonics in various devices and applications,
- the ability to critically assess advances in nanophotonics and postulate on future directions.
- experience of team-based design project related to nanophotonics
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| Learning Outcomes |
After successfully completing the module, the students will be able to:
- Explain the origin and general applications of photon and electron confinement
- Describe the use of quantum effects in photonic applications
- Illustrate the application of nanophotonics in devices for the emission and manipulation of light
- Hypothesize on future directions in nanophotonics
- Work effectively in a design group and present their results orally and as a written report
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| Module Content |
1. Nanoscale physics of photons and electrons (8 lectures)
(i) Quantum mechanics of photons and electrons: wave equations, quantum confinement and bandstructures
(ii) Semiconductors and heterojunctions
(iii) Light emission and lasing
2. Advanced lasers (2 lectures)
(i) Distributed feedback (DFB) lasers and Distributed Bragg Reflectors (DBRs)
(ii) Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs)
(iii) Microdisk (whispering gallery) lasers
(iv) Quantum Cascade lasers
3. Photonic crystals and metamaterials (5 lectures)
(i) Concept of a photonic band gap (PBG), Bragg reflectors as 1D PBGs
(ii) Natural and man-made photonic crystals; “holey fibres”
(ii) PBGs for functional photonic components (waveguides, splitters, sensors etc.),
(iii) Dispersion control and ‘slow light’
(iv) Left handed materials
4. Plasmonics (3 lectures)
(i) Bulk and surface plasmons
(ii) Plasmons in nanoscale particles
(iii) Nanoscale light emitters
5. Nonlinear optics and nanophotonics (3 lectures)
(i) Essentials of nonlinear optics
(ii) Enhancement in nanostructures: symmetry-breaking, plasmons and PBGs
6. Strong electron-photon interactions (3 lectures)
(i) Microcavities and polaritons
(iii) Coherent and ultrafast light-matter interactions
7. Formation of nanoscale photonic materials and devices (3 lectures)
(i) Top down: patterning, etching and laser writing: waveguides and microcavities
(ii) Bottom-up: growth of self-organised semiconductor quantum dots
(iii) Formation of photonic bandgap and metamaterials
8. Optical measurements on the nanoscale (3 lectures)
(i) High numerical aperture imaging and the diffraction limit
(ii) Sub-wavelength resolution: near-field imaging and immersion lenses; apertured and apertureless nearfield scanning optical microscopy (NSOM)
(iii) Confocal, multiphoton and coherent 3D microscopy |
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| Methods of Teaching/Learning |
Lectures: 20 hours of formal lectures. 10 supervised hours (including assessments by oral presentations) of group-based design project.
Private study of specified articles |
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| Selected Texts/Journals |
P. Prasad, Nanophotonics, Wiley, NY, 2004 [B]
J. Singh, Semiconductor Devices: An Introduction, McGraw Hill, 1994 |
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| Last Updated |
18th February 2008 |
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