Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

6.6370 - Optical Imaging Devices and Systems      
6.2370 - Modern Optics Project Laboratory     
Fall Term 2024

6.2370 is taught jointly with 6.6370.    The classes will take place at 1:00 pm (TR 1:00 - 2:30 pm in Room 34-301).  6.6370 graduate students will also have access to the Modern Optics Laboratory.  PDFs of the class notes will be shared with all the registered students.  Homework will be assigned as usual. We will have 2 in-class, open-book quizzes during the semester. The final experimental project is a major requirement. There is no final exam.

COURSE SUMMARY

Most 2-D and 3-D optical imaging systems involve the use of one or more of the following: light sources (e.g., lasers,light-emitting diodes,lamps), spatial light emissive or modulation components (e.g., OLED, liquid crystal, electro-optic-crystal and MEMS light modulators), photodetector arrays (e.g., CCDs, photodiodes), information storage devices (e.g., optical disk, photorefractive material), image processing subsystems (e.g., spatial filtering components, color filtering components, lenses, gratings, digital signal processing systems) and of course the human eye.

This course starts with a focus on the fundamental principles of optics and optical phenomena, and includes laboratory exercises that reinforce the student's understanding of the fundamentals. The course has significant design activity so mastery of the fundamentals is essential.

The topics covered include: the polarization properties of light, reflection and refraction, coherence and interference, Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction regimes, Fourier optics; incoherent and coherent 2-D imaging systems; image resolution; optics of the eye; principles of 3-D near-eye imaging systems, virtual and augmented reality systems; static and dynamic holographic imaging systems (including photorefractive systems); electro-optic, liquid-crystal spatial light modulation; 2-D emissive displays based on OLEDs; lasers, principles of image detectors for the visible and infrared; adaptive optical imaging systems.

Lectures are supplemented with weekly problem sets for the first 7 weeks. The undergraduates also do 6 sets of laboratory exercises. The course concludes with a final project that explores the details of a special topic in optics, photonics or quantum electronics, etc. that is of interest to the student and meets the approval of the Instructor.

LECTURE

In-person on TR 1:00 - 2:30pm in Room 34-301

OFFICE HOURS

Office hours will be held virtually weekly at https://mit.zoom.us/j/97707442869 at a time convenient for the majority of students. Attendance is optional

PREREQUISITES

The prerequisite is 6.300 or equivalent. Exceptions can be made by the Lecturer

COURSE STAFF

Feel free to contact either the lecturer, Prof. Cardinal Warde for more information (Registered students only, please).

Lecturer:	Prof. Cardinal Warde Room 13-3102 MIT Tel: 253-6858 warde@mit.edu
TA/Laboratory Instructor:
Writing Coordinator:	Juergen Schoenstein Room: E18-240A MIT  Tel: juergen@mit.edu
Optics lab:	Room 38-633 Phone: x3-4619
	(Note: We share the lab phone with other labs on the floor)

 

This page has been created and maintained for 6.637 by David Dunmeyer and Prof. Cardinal Warde. Permission of the authors for duplication or other use of this website's content is required and must include the original copyright. © 2006 Prof. Cardinal Warde, David Dunmeyer