(20 Dec 2009) Final exams have been graded and the course grades have been posted on Blackboard and on the registrar's computer. I have done electronic grading, and have made a few notes on each exam. I'll try to get those posted on the blackboard system in the next couple of days. The Take--Home Final Exam with Solutions is now available. Thanks to everyone for being part of the course this year. I hope to see you again in the future. Good luck, and good holidays.

(15 Dec 2009) Problem 4.3 is also causing some consternation. You have calculated the diffraction angle in the plastic, from a pit on the bottom side of a plastic CD. When the light emerges from the top of the disk, the angle will change according to Snell's law. What is the new angle? Now, if you consider the diffraction problem for a pit of the same size, but in air instead of in plastic, what is the diffraction angle?

(15 Dec 2009) Problem 1.3 seems to be causing some confusion. There are four different input polarizations, and four different output polarizations, for a total of 16 different experiments you could do by rotating, adding, or removing elements. You are given a polarized laser, so you need components to modify the input and to only pass the desired output.

(14 Dec 2009) All homework solutions are now posted above.

(10 Dec 2009) Here is the Take--Home Final Exam. As always if a question is unclear, let me know. Of course, I will not give out answers or hints, but I will clarify a question if necessary.

Thanks to all of you for being part of the group. Your patience in working with the old notes and new text, as well as your eagle eyes in catching several errors, are appreciated. Please continue to keep in touch. Enjoy the holidays. --Chuck

(7 Dec 2009) Homework 4 is due Wednesday. Homework 5 is cancelled.

(5 Dec 2009) Looking over the remaining material and the amount of time left, my plan is to finish the Gaussian beams and briefly discuss coherence tomorrow, skip Fourier Optics, and use the remaining time to cover radiometry. Plan on using Sections 9 and 11 of the notes (Chapters 10 and 12 of the book) this week.

(1 Dec 2009) Homework solutions for sets 2 and 3 are now posted.

(26 Nov 2009) I have been asked by the administration to give a presentation to a campus visitor on Monday during class time. Therefore, I must cancel class for the day.

(16 Nov 2009) The interference homework set is due on Monday, 23 Nov.

(9 Nov 2009) Prof. Mark Patterson, visiting professor of Law from Fordham University, will be teaching a course in patent law during the NU law school's winter quarter. If anyone is interested in attending some of the lectures, contact me for further information.

(5 Nov 2009) Homework 2 due date has been moved to next Monday, 9 November. Anytime that day will be acceptable.

(1 Nov 2009) The midterm exam with solutions is now posted as Exam 1 , above. Problem 3 seemed to be difficult for almost everyone. I will do some scaling at the end of the term, with details yet to be determined.

(24 Oct 2009) Solutions to all of Homework 1 (parts A and B, or the first five problems) are now posted here and above. Also, in Problem 1 you can assume straight ray propagation for the first part (computing the optical path length), but you need to account for refraction at the curved surface in the second part.

(23 Oct 2009) I think this drawing will help you understand Problem 2 On the exam. Note that the beam pivots about the front focal point.

(23 Oct 2009) I will delay the due date for the homework assignment #2 that was due 29 October. I will choose a new date when we have completed the related lecture material.

(22 Oct 2009) Some more clarification. For the imaging in Problem 1, imagine looking at a small object on the bottom of the bead, through the top. You have to deal with the issue of refraction at the curved surface. In Problem 2 some students have been asking if the lenses are thick or thin. Think about whether you really need to know this if I am asking for the matrix from F to F'. Hint: If I tell you the focal length, you know the matrix from H to H'.

(21 Oct 2009) Here are some updates on the take-home exam. In problem 1, the oil can be thought of as filling all the space above the microscope slide, or at least up to the top of the sphere. Compute the optical path through this in the vertical direction away from the sphere, and call that the zero. Then compute the difference in optical path caused by the sphere as a function of x, which is the location from left to right in the figure. For the reflection part of the problem, just solve it for the case where x and y are centered on the sphere. Don't try to do this part as a function of x. In problem 2, you need a pixel size for the camera. Use 10 microns. In problem 4, do the computation for the maximum h.

(19 Oct 2009) The midterm exam is now posted as Exam 1 , above. It is due by 6:00 PM on Monday, 26 October.

(18 Oct 2009) In problem 4, the detector is 100 micrometers in diameter. Somehow that got left out of the assignment.

(17 Oct 2009) There is an error in the notes on page 11140-04-32, as I mentioned in class. However, I made the wrong correction. The signs of q are correct. The signs of p are reversed. The pictures are correct in the book in Figure 5-11. The equations are correct in all cases.

(14 Oct 2009) Here is a clarification to Problem 4 on the homework. The "object" is a collection of dust particles at some distance away from the sensor. The distance is usually quite long, varying perhaps up to 1000 meters or more. For part C, consider dirt on the scan mirror to be the "object." In this case, we want the light that hits this dirt to be obscured, because it will appear as a very strong target, very close, and saturate the detector. The mount of the folding mirror for the transmitter acts as one of the blocking elements. The folding mirror itself has no optical power and can be ignored for the transmission path.

(12 Oct 2009) Solutions to Homework 1A are now posted above.

(8 Oct 2009) Because I didn't get through the spherical aberration material in today's lecture, and there is no class on the Monday holiday, the homework due date is postponed until the following Monday, 19 October. I made this announcement after a reminder by a student, probably after the streaming video recording had ended. Please spread the word to anyone you know who is taking the class.

(5 Oct 2009) On Problem 3 of the homework (the fiber--optic one), the magnification of the second lens should be -1/4, treating the fiber end as the image location. On Problem 4, it is easiest to imagine the mirrors as lenses of focal length equal to half the radius of curvature (concave making a positive lens). Then you can lay out the system in a straight line without having to deal with the complexity of the reflections. It makes finding the apertures in object space much easier. I will try to get far enough in the lectures on Thursday so that you can do Problem 5. If I don't succeed, then I'll extend the due date.

(28 Sep 2009) Reminder. There will be no class and no office hours Thursday. I will be out of town Wednesday through Saturday. I will have at least limited access to email.

(25 Sep 2009) You have probably received information from the graduate office about proctors for exams. Our exams are take-home exams, and there is therefore no need for proctors. At the appropriate time, I will post the exam on this site, and you will submit it either electronically as a .pdf file, or at my office, just as we have done with homework. Please disregard these notices about proctors.

(24 Sep 2009) See the pdf file and the Matlab code , for some help understanding principal planes (and later, apertures). Your comments are appreciated, both regarding any errors you find, and any points that are unclear.

(23 Sep 2009) Time for homework submission If you are submitting your homework on paper, please submit to the TA, Hongyi Zhang's mailbox in the ECE office, 440 DA before 5:00pm on the due date. If you are submitting electronicaly, you may do so up to midnight.

(22 Sep 2009 --- revised) I am told that I have been successful in creating a drop box for Homework 1A, which consists of the first two problems. I also created one for 1B, which is the rest of assignment 1, due 13 October. I did that mainly because I felt like I created the first one "by accident" and I wanted to see if I could do it again. If you have any problems, email me and Hongyi (address above). My apologies for all the confusion.

(21 Sep 2009) Homework due dates are in the Syllabus .

(18 Sep 2009) Homework 1 may be submitted in electronic form to the TA via blackboard.

(10 Sep 2009) Lecture notes sections 1 and 2 are ready for download. Remember to email me for a link to the book.

(7 Sep 2009) The class will be in Room 178 of West Village F.

(31 Aug 2009) This course was taught in Fall 2007. In Fall 2008, I taught a course with the same title for undergraduates, ECEU646. The lecture notes and homeworks will be similar to those here. The big change this time is that I have a rough draft of a textbook for the course. I will make the chapters available online. My plan is to use the old presentation material but to begin upgrading to material that goes with the book. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.