Calendar

Class # Topics
1

Background

carrier distributions, pn junctions, carrier injection

2

Photodetectors

absorption in bulk semiconductors, displacement currents, gain-bandwidth limits

3

Modulators

absorption in quantum wells, quantum confined Stark effect

4

Optical amplifiers

population inversion and gain, non-radiative recombination

5

Optical amplifiers

coupled electron-photon rate equations, gain saturation, optical confinement

6

Lasers

Fabry-Perot resonators, lasing threshold

7

Heterostructure materials

optical and electrical properties of alloys, heterostructure band alignment

8

Distributed feedback (DFB) and surface emitting laser resonators

T-matrix formalism and coupled mode theory, grating based resonators

9 Review, midterm
10

Tunable optics

chirp in semiconductor media, electro-optic effects

11

Modulation

small-signal and large signal analysis

12

Noise in optoelectronic devices

Langevin theory, shot noise limits, relative intensity noise (RIN) of lasers

13

Systems

WDM system design, noise and power budget for fiber optic systems