Applied Concepts

Course Description

Please note: The course descriptions and instructors listed below are NOT final, it is possible that circumstances beyond our control could necessitate alterations.

2024: Offered remotely from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily

June 5, Wednesday

Optical Design, Professor Julie Bentley (Rochester)

More advanced analysis of optical imaging systems, with an emphasis on optical aberrations. Topics include chromatic aberrations; simple achromatic systems; third-order aberrations; wavefront shape and transverse ray aberrations; tracing real rays; aberrations of thin lenses; effects of bending and stop shift; and image analysis and improvement.

June 6, Thursday

Spectroscopy and its Biomedical Applications, Professor Andrew Berger (Rochester)

This course covers several major types of optical spectroscopy: mid-infrared absorption, Raman scattering, fluorescence emission, and elastic scattering.  Fundamental theory and instrumental details will be addressed for each type.  In addition to these introductions, biomedical examples of each technique will be described in detail.

June 7, Friday

Photometry and Colorimetry, Professor Gary Wicks (Rochester)

Brightness and color are familiar qualitative aspects of light. Quantitative treatments of these characteristics of light are developed in Photometry and Colorimetry, enabling calculations of the brightness and color of optical sources.

June 10, Monday

Radiometry and Detection, Professor Gary Wicks (Rochester)

Principles of radiometry. Fundamental radiation laws. Descriptions of important optical radiation detectors and their inherent limitations, including photomultipliers, photodiodes, and photoconductors.

June 11, Tuesday

Design of Illumination Systems, Josh Cobb (Rochester)

This course presents the student with an introduction to the concept of etendue, or the size of a light source, as a fundamental parameter in the design of illumination systems. This concept is then applied to the design of illumination systems such as Koehler illuminators and Abbe illuminators. Practical examples are presented that will show the student how light from a source can be arranged into the spatial and angular distributions required by the optical system.