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Res.6-005 Understanding Lasers and Fiberoptics

Res.6-005 Understanding Lasers and Fiberoptics (MIT OCW). Taught by Professor Shaoul Ezekiel, this course explains the basic characteristics of lasers and fiberoptics. This brief video course is designed for engineers, scientists, medical personnel, managers, and others who work with lasers and/or fiberoptics, or who anticipate working with lasers and/or fiberoptics, yet have little or no background in laser or fiberoptic basics. The course focuses on fundamentals and emphasizes a physical intuitive interpretation of laser and fiberoptic phenomena and their applications. Because Prof. Ezekiel keeps mathematics to a minimum, the topics covered are easily understood, without the need for a strong technical background. Prof. Ezekiel uses plain language, graphic illustrations, and video demonstrations to explain the basic characteristics of lasers and fiberoptics. (from ocw.mit.edu)

Lecture 1 - Laser Fundamentals I
Topics Covered: Why the interest in lasers; Unique characteristics of lasers; How such characteristics come about.

Lecture 2 - Laser Fundamentals II
Topics Covered: How a laser is constructed; What determines the laser's power, intensity, energy, wavelength, spot size, collimation, tuning range, spectral width, efficiency, size and weight.

Lecture 3 - Laser Fundamentals III
Topics Covered: What determines the laser's power, intensity, energy, wavelength, spot size, collimation, tuning range, spectral width, efficiency, size and weight (continued); Generation of very short pulses; What are the problems with lasers such as amplifier limitations and how to handle them.

Lecture 4 - Laser Fundamentals III (cont.)
Topics Covered: with lasers such as transverse modes and how to handle them; Types of lasers, including gas lasers, solid-state lasers, semiconductor lasers, and liquid lasers; Examples of laser applications.

Lecture 5 - Fiberoptics Fundamentals
Topics Covered: Why the interest in fiberoptics; How light propagates in an optical fiber; What determines the loss in a fiber; Single mode and multimode propagation; Single polarization fiber; Fiber amplifier operation; Fiberoptics applications in sensors and communications; Future developments.