University of Colorado Boulder

Optical Efficiency and Resolution

This course is part of Optical Engineering Specialization

Taught in English

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Robert McLeod

Instructor: Robert McLeod

6,678 already enrolled

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Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

4.1

(58 reviews)

Advanced level
Designed for those already in the industry
21 hours (approximately)
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Progress towards a degree

What you'll learn

  • Design an optical system with simple mathematical and graphical techniques

  • Design an optical system with the required field of view and resolution

  • Analyze the characteristics of your optical system using an industry-standard design tool, OpticStudio by Zemax

Details to know

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Assessments

12 quizzes

Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

4.1

(58 reviews)

Advanced level
Designed for those already in the industry
21 hours (approximately)
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Progress towards a degree

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This course is part of the Optical Engineering Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
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  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
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There are 5 modules in this course

First order optical system design using rays is useful for the initial design of an optical imaging system, but does not predict the energy and resolution of the system. This module introduces Gaussian beams, a specific example of how the shape of the light evolves in an imaging system.

What's included

12 videos3 readings4 quizzes6 discussion prompts

This module provides the background for the full electro-magnetic field description of optical systems, including a description of plane and spherical waves and a formal treatment of reflection and refraction from this perspective. We start out with a quick review of the mathematical background for this description. This will be fairly short, but you may want to spend some more time reviewing these concepts on your own if you have not seen them for a while.

What's included

8 videos2 readings3 quizzes1 discussion prompt

This module provides an introduction to the basics of Fourier Optics, which are used to determine the resolution of an imaging system. We will discuss a few Fourier Transforms that show up in standard optical systems in the first subsection and use these to determine the system resolution, and then discuss the differences between coherent and incoherent systems and impulse responses and transfer functions in the second subsection. We will wrap up with a discussion of these concepts using OpticStudio.

What's included

10 videos2 quizzes1 discussion prompt

This module takes the concepts of pupils and resolution that we have discussed in the previous modules and works through how to apply them to our first-order optical design systems. We start with a description of how to find the system pupils and windows, then move on to a discussion of how that affects the imaging properties of this system, and finally return to the Lagrange invariant and its utility in optical system design.

What's included

11 videos2 quizzes2 discussion prompts

One of the main questions you ask when designing an optical system is "How much light can I get through the system?" In this last section of new content for this course, we move from talking about resolution to talking about the amount of light we expect at each point in the optical system, a field of study called radiometry.

What's included

10 videos1 reading1 quiz

Instructor

Instructor ratings
4.4 (16 ratings)
Robert McLeod
University of Colorado Boulder
3 Courses21,550 learners

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