Physics 208

We introduce the electrooptic tensor and do examples using the linear electrooptic effect.

We look at figures of merit for acoustooptic materials and limitation on modulation bandwidth in acoustooptic modulators.

We look at the Bragg condition in anisotropic materials and solve for the diffracted beam amplitude using coupled mode theory.

We introduce Jones calculus to keep track of polarization direction and use it to describe a number of examples including polarization rotation in a twisted nematic liquid crystal.

We look at how aspects of this class relate to the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) and investigate the design of the LIGO Faraday Isolators

We provide a physical description for the origin of optical activity and faraday rotation in a material and useeigenmodes as well as coupled mode analysis to solve for the behavior of fields propagating through an optically active material.

We introduce the index ellipsoid and show how it can be used to find the indices of refraction for light propagating in a crystal in an arbitrary direction.

We look at solutions to the wave equation in anisotropic materials and the "normal shells" that describe of those solutions.

We consider Maxwell's equations in matter and use them to find the boundary conditions at an interface, and the wave equation in anisotropic materials.

We derive the wave equation in isotropic materials from Maxwell's laws and we introduce phasor notation as a method for simplifying calculations.