Fall 2021: ECE 383P Fourier Optics
ECE 383P FOURIER OPTICS
MW 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. EER 1.512
Instructor: Shwetadwip Chowdhury
shwetadwip.chowdhury@utexas.edu
UPDATE: Due to COVID, class will be conducted remotely on Zoom until Sept. 20. Afterwards, COVID situation will be reassessed to determine if class can become in-person again.
Fourier optics is the study of how concepts from linear and space-invariant systems can provide powerful descriptors of how optical waves propagate. The Fourier transform is one such powerful descriptor, and is of great utility in decomposing electric fields into their harmonic plane-wave components. This enables rigorous understanding of how light propagates within instruments composed of linear optical elements, such as is the case with microscopes, telescopes, and cameras. Fourier optics also introduces a coherent-analysis framework, which enables rich analysis and understanding of illumination sources ranging from modulated lasers to incoherent white-light sources. Light coherence also has applications for optical information processing and holography. Lastly, Fourier Optics also presents a theoretical foundation for diffraction theory, which allows one to calculate and predict imaging resolution and other interference-based phenomena.
Students should have the following experience:
Linear Signals and Systems or equivalent
Coding experience in Matlab or Python