ECEG287 --- Optical Detection --- Spring 2004

Prof. DiMarzio | Prof. McKnight | Syllabus

Term Paper Topics
 Lecture Notes 1 - Introduction
 Lecture Notes 2 - Radiometry
 Lecture Notes 3 - Noise and Photon Detectors
 Lecture Notes 3a - Black Body Distribution Function and Emissivity
 Lecture Notes 4 - Materials Considertations in Photoemissive Detectors
 Lecture Notes 5 - Materials Considertations in Semiconductor Detectors
 Lecture Notes 6 - Materials Considertations in Semiconductor Detectors--II
 Lecture Notes 7 - Types of Semiconductor Detectors
 Lecture Notes 8 - P-N Junction Effects and Other Detectors
 Lecture Notes 9 - Detectors as Circuit Elements
 Lecture Notes 10 - More on Detectors as Circuit Elements
 Lecture Notes 11 - Coherent Detection
 Lecture Notes 12 - More Coherent Detection
 Lecture Notes 13 - Semiconductor Photoconductive Detectors
 Lecture Notes 13a - Noise Sources in Semiconductor Detectors
 Lecture Notes 14 - Signals and Noise
 Lecture Notes 15 - Introduction to Arrays
 Lecture Notes 16 - Gain and Bandwidth in Semiconductor Detectors
 Lecture Notes 17 - Array Detectors
 Lecture Notes 18 - Odds and Ends
 Lecture Notes 19 - Conclusion

Homework 1 Problem 1
Homework 1 Problem 1 Solution
Homework 1 Problem 2
 Homework 2
 Homework 2 Solution
Homework 3

Matlab Used in Lecture 14
Mathematica Used in Lecture 14

Final Exam, Due Wednesday 21 April 04, 5:00 PM

Announcements (Updated 22 April 04)

(22 Apr 04) By popular request, we offer the following options for submission of the term papers. (1) Leave a paper copy with one of us before 5PM Friday. (2) Send us BOTH a .pdf file before 9AM Saturday. Make sure you get confirmation from at least one of us that it is received and readable. For remote students, the .pdf option is preferable. If you send by courier or mail on Friday, we will not receive in time to get grades in on Monday at 9:00AM. We know that quick turn-around on grades is important to those of you who receive reimbursement from your employers.

(16 Apr 04) Here's a bit of help with Problem 1. Assume that the object in question is a good Lambertial source, so that L=M/pi. Remember why L is important, and I think you will find this problem easier. Also in Problem 1, note that the electrical bandwidth refers to the limiting bandwidth of the circuit after the detector, which in this case is dictated by the 30-Hz. frame rate.

(14 April 04) The final exam and the last sets of lecture notes are posted. Reminder: Term papers are due Friday, 23 April, by Noon.

(22 Mar 04) Lecture notes 14 and 15 are posted. Some topics for term papers are posted. You are welcome to negotiate with us if you have your own ideas. Also, the Matlab and Mathematica code shown in class are posted.

(16 Mar 04) This index file has been reloaded because of an error which lost some of the previous entries. This contains everything up through Prof. McKnight's discussion of photoconductive detectors.

(24 Feb 04) HW 3 had an error in Problem 1, Part b, resulting from a TeX typesetting error. The last line of the paragraph should read "to 88% at -10 Volts," rather than "to 88."

(17 Feb 04) Lecture notes sets 9, 10 and 11 are posted. Apparently I forgot to post set 9 last week.

(16 Feb 04) Homework 3 is posted.

(19 Jan 04) Homework 1 is due Monday, 26 Jan 04. Notes section 3 is reposted with some corrections. I've improved slide 10 a bit, along the lines of what we discussed in class, and the last 4 pages are new. You may wish to print those before class Wed. Other than that, the changes are very minor, and it probably doesn't make sense to print everything, but it is available if you like.

(15 Jan 04) Homework 1 (2 problems) is posted above, and also on Blackboard.

(11 Jan 04) Set 3 of the lecture notes has been posted above.

(9 Jan 04) The mail address in the paragraph below is wrong. Leave off the first initial. dimarzio@ece.neu.edu. That may be why I have heard from so few of you.

(7 Jan 04) Please send your current email address to cdimarzio@ece.neu.edu. I will add you to the class email list, to facilitate course communication. See "contacting us" below for instructions on using this list. This may duplicate some of the capability on BLACKBOARD, but until we are fully comfortable with BLACKBOARD, let's keep this in mind.

(6 Jan 04) OOPS! ROOM CHANGE!!! It seems there are a lot of places where the room number is listed as 109RB, including unfortunately the syllabus on this website. The room number is in fact 408EL, in the Ell Building. For those of you who were there, we expect to continue in that location. For the others, we will make arrangements so you can view the first lecture.

(4 Jan 04) Welcome to ECEG287. Profs. McKnight and DiMarzio have both taught this course before, and have emphasized different aspects of the subject, reflecting our different research backgrounds. Prof. McKnight's emphasis is on the physics of the detectors, while Prof. DiMarzio's is on their application. We are pleased to be working together this year in an attempt to give you the best of both fields.

The syllabus and first two lectures are posted. According to our best information, the course will meet in 109 Robinson, at 11:40 Monday morning. We look forward to seeing you there.

We recommend that you print out the lecture notes and bring them to class so that you can minimize the need for note-taking, while being able to make your own notations in the margins. The notes are in Powerpoint, and most students find it efficient to print them as "handouts, 2 per page," but you are free to do whatever works best for you.


Contact Us
The course email list is eceg287@ece.neu.edu. You can send email to this address, and it will go to both of us and all students. This is a good way to discuss homework or other questions which arise. However, please be careful when you reply to a message: The normal thing to do is reply to the list so everyone can see your answer. However, if you accidentally do this when you really want to send a message to only one person, you could be embarrassed. Note that there is also a similar feature in BLACKBOARD, which already has an email address for everyone in the class. Until we are fully comfortable with it, this provides another alternative.
  Prof. Charles A. DiMarziomailto:dimarzio @ ece.neu.edu
 617-373-2034
440 Dana Research Center (Mail)
334 Egan Research Center (Lab Location)
302 Stearns (Office Location)
Pager number 671-865-1901
Office Hours Thursdays, 10-12 PM in 302ST, or electronically Wedenesdays 8-9PM or
Check my schedule at  http://calendar.yahoo.com/public/cadimarzio and then e-mail me at  mailto:dimarzio @ ece.neu.edu
I generally check my e-mail several times a day, and if you e-mail a question before about 10:00 PM, there is a high probability that you will receive an answer before 11:00.
To use electronic office hours, check my homepage at the time you wish to use them. I may change the rules during the semester, depending on how it works out.

  Prof. Stephen W. McKnight mailto:mcknight @ neu.edu
 617-373-2060
302 Stearns
Office Hours TBA