Light is an electromagnetic (EM) wave composed of oscillating electric and magnetic fields. Light in the visible domain has a wavelength between 400nm and 700nm. Human interaction with light occurs through visual perception.
In visible domain, micro/nano structured devices can be used to control light in unconventional ways. For example, highly efficient polarizers can be fashioned from metallic, zero-order gratings. Wire-grid polarizers with about 100nm period are used in projection displays where conventional sheet polarizers cannot be used.
In applications, such as liquid crystal displays where controlling and manipulating polarization-states of light forms a key part of design and simulations, physical understanding of the wave concepts is extremely important.
Key concepts covered include:
- Light as EM wave
- Propagation of plane wave in homogeneous medium
- Simulating interactions of light with periodic structures, such as photonic crystals
- Scattering, diffraction of light from nanostructures
- Effective medium models for 0-order gratings
- Anisotropic medium and use of such media as polarizers
- Jones calculus methods
- Liquid crystals in controlling polarization
- Visualization of wave propagation in homogeneous and artificial media
- Hands-on training on writing codes in Python/Matlab to solve real-life problems