Modern Optics Project Laboratory

Red lights in a pattern.

A diffraction pattern of 632.8 nm light from a hexagonal diffraction grating. (Photo courtesy of David R. Dunmeyer.)

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

6.161 / 6.637

As Taught In

Fall 2005

Level

Undergraduate

Cite This Course

Course Description

Course Features

Course Description

6.161 offers an introduction to laboratory optics, optical principles, and optical devices and systems. This course covers a wide range of topics, including: polarization properties of light, reflection and refraction, coherence and interference, Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction, holography, imaging and transforming properties of lenses, spatial filtering, two-lens coherent optical processor, optical properties of materials, lasers, electro-optic, acousto-optic and liquid-crystal light modulators, optical detectors, optical waveguides and fiber-optic communication systems. Students engage in extensive oral and written communication exercises. There are 12 engineering design points associated with this subject.

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Related Content

Cardinal Warde, and David Dunmeyer. 6.161 Modern Optics Project Laboratory. Fall 2005. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.


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