2008 Courses & Clusters

Cluster 5 - A Journey to Nano-Photonics

Instructors:
Yeshaiahu Fainman, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCSD
Peter Ilinykh, Development Engineer, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCSD
Maziar Nezhad, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Electrical and Computer Engineering, UCSD
Clark Guest, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Description:
The field of photonics concerns generation, control, manipulation, transfer and detection of light that became key in numerous applications including information technologies, energy, biology and medicine. Many everyday systems around us are enabled by photonics technology. These include CD and DVD players, laser printers, DLP and LCD TVs, LASIK surgery. Recent advances in photonics have made spectacular changes in today’s world. Emerging nanophotonic technologies will further advance and revolutionize the way we compute, communicate and process information.

In this cluster we will discuss the major trends in photonics. The cluster will be organized as a single course, including different elements of interactive learning. From lectures, supported by laboratory demonstrations, students will understand how light is generated and propagates in space and through fiber, how laser and CD players work, what is a digital light processor, and how photonic sensing can help to resolve issues in life sciences and medicine. The second part will be oriented to hands-on experiences. Students will be divided into groups working on different projects creating their own optical components and testing them in the lab. Project topics will include fiber optics, hologram recording, soft lithography fabrication, optical system design and information transmission by laser light.

Prerequisite:
Algebra 1, 8th Grade general science

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