Unit 1

1.(a) Use Snell's law to show that a ray entering a planar plate of thickness d and
refractive index n1 (placed in air, n≈1) emerges parallel to its initial direction. The
ray need not be paraxial. Derive an expression for the lateral displacement of the ray
as a function of the angle of incidence ϴ. Explain your results in terms of Fermat's
principle.
(b) If the plate instead comprises a stack of N parallel layers stacked against each
other with thicknesses d1, d2, ..., dn and refractive indexes n1, n2,..., n2, show that the
transmitted ray is parallel to the incident ray. If ϴm is the angle of the ray in the mth
layer, show that nm sin(ϴm) = sin(ϴ), m = 1, 2,....
2. An optical fiber is illuminated by light from a source (e.g., a light-emitting diode,
LED). The refractive indexes of the core and cladding of the fiber are n 1 and n2,
respectively, and the refractive index of air is 1 (Fig. 1). Show that the half-angle ϴa
of the cone of rays accepted by the fiber (transmitted through the fiber without
undergoing refraction at the cladding) is given by

Calculate the numerical aperture (NA) and acceptance angle (ϴa) for a silica-glass
fiber with n1 = 1.475 and n2 = 1.460.

Figure 1
3.(a) A convex lens of refractive index 1.5 has a focal length of 20 cm in air.
Calculate the change in its focal length when it is immersed in water of refractive
index 4/3.
(b) Tiny glass ball are often used as lenses to couple light into and out of optical
fibers. The fiber end is located at a distance f from the sphere. For a sphere of
radius a=1mm and refractive index n=1.8, determine f such that a ray parallel to
the optical axis at a distance y=0.7mm is focused onto the fiber, as illustrated in the
below picture.

4.(a) Ray-Transfer Matrix of a Lens System. Determine the ray-transfer matrix for
an optical system made of a thin convex lens of focal length f and a thin concave
lens of focal length -f separated by a distance f. Discuss the imaging properties of
this composite lens.
(b) Consider a set of N parallel planar transparent plates of refractive indices n₁,
n₂,..., nN and thicknesses d₁, d₂,..., dN, placed in air (n = 1) normal to the z axis as
shown below. Calculate the ray transfer matrix.

Or
(c) Show that the ray-transfer matrix of a distance d of free space followed by a
lens of focal length f is
5.(a) Determine the radius of a circle within which a spherical wave of wavelength
 = 633 nm, originating at a distance 1m away, may be approximated by a
paraboloidal wave. Determine the maximum angle m and the Fresnel number NF.
(b) State the postulates of wave optics
(c) Briefly explain the relation between wave optics and ray optics
6. Derive the complex amplitude transmittance of the double-convex lens (also
called a spherical lens) shown below. Note that the parameters R1 and R2 are the
respective radius of curvatures.

7.(a) Determine the radius of a circle within which a spherical wave of wavelength
λ = 633nm, originating at a distance 1m away, may be approximated by a
paraboloidal wave. Determine the maximum angle θ and the Fresnel number N f.
(b) What is a paraxial wave? Derive the Paraxial Helmholtz equation.
8. Light is reflected at an angle from M parallel reflecting planes separated by a
distance d as shown in the below figure. Assume that only a small fraction of the
light is reflected from each plane, so that the amplitudes of the M reflected waves
are approximately equal. Find out the phase difference of the reflected waves. Also,
find out the angle in which the total intensity of the reflected light is maximum.
 Unit 2
1. Explain the properties of the Gaussian Beam at special points.
OR
A 1mW He-Ne laser produces a Gaussian beam of wavelength λ = 633 nm and a
spot size 2W0 = 0.1 mm.
(a) Determine the angular divergence of the beam, its depth of focus, and its diameter
at z = 3.5 x 105 km (approximately the distance to the moon).
(b) What is the radius of curvature of the wavefront at z = 0, z = z0, and z = 2z0?
(c) What is the optical intensity (in W/cm2) at the beam centre (z = 0, p = 0) and at
the axial point z = z0? Compare this with the intensity at z = z0 of a 100-W spherical
wave produced by a small isotropically emitting light source located at z = 0.
2.(a) Assume that the width and radius of curvature of a Gaussian beam of
wavelength λ = 1μm at some point on the beam axis are R1 = 1mm and W1 = 1mm,
respectively (See figure below). Determine the beam width (W2) and radius of
curvature (R2) at a distance d = 10cm to the right.

(b) Assuming that the width W and the radius of curvature R of a Gaussian beam are
known at some beam axis (as shown below), find out the distance (z) from which
the beam waist is located and the waist radius.
3.(a) Verify that the following expressions for the complex degree of temporal
coherence are consistent with the definition of τc

Also, by what factor does |g(τ)| drop as τ increases from 0 to τc in each above case?
(b) Briefly explain the statistical properties of light.

4(a) Explain the effect of the spatial coherence on interference. Derive the equation
that describes the pattern of the observed intensity.
(b) Explain the interference of two partially coherent waves and also derive the
interference equation.
 Unit 3
1.(a) Briefly explain the following terminologies.
i) Photon Energy
ii) Photon Polarization
iii) Photon Spin
iv) Photon Time
(b) What voltage should be applied to accelerate an electron from zero velocity in
order that it acquire the same energy as a photon of wavelength λ = 0.87 μm?
(c) A photon of wavelength 1.06μm is combined with a photon of wavelength
10.6μm to create a photon whose energy is the sum of the energies of the two
photons. What is the wavelength of the resultant photon?

2. Consider a monochromatic light beam of wavelength λ0 falling on an infinite

screen in the plane z = 0, with an intensity I(ρ) = I0 exp(- ρ/ρ0), where ρ = (x2 +
y2)0.5.
(a) Assume that the intensity of the source is reduced to a level at which only a
single photon strikes the screen. Find the probability that the photon strikes the
screen within a radius ρ0 of the origin.
(b) If the beam contains exactly 106 photons, on the average how many photons
strike within a circle of radius ρ0?

3. (a) At the line center of the λ0 = 694.3nm transition, the absorption coefficient of
ruby in thermal equilibrium (i.e., without pumping) at T = 300 K is α(ν0) = -γ(ν0) =
0.2 cm-1. If the concentration of Cr3+ ions responsible for the transition is Na = 1.58
x 1019 cm-3, determine the transition cross section σ0 = σ(ν0).
(b) A ruby laser makes use of a 10cm long ruby rod (refractive index n = 1.76) of
cross-sectional area 1 cm2 and operates on this transition at λ0 = 694.3 nm. Both of
its ends are polished and coated so that each has a reflectance of 80%. Assuming
that there are no scattering or other extraneous losses, determine the resonator loss
coefficient αr and the resonator photon lifetime τp
(c) As the laser is pumped, γ(ν0) increases from its initial thermal equilibrium value
of -0.2 cm-1 and changes sign, thereby providing gain. Determine the threshold
population difference Nt , for laser oscillation.
4. Consider a 10-cm-long gas laser operating at the center of the 600-nm line in a
single longitudinal and single transverse mode. The mirror reflectances are R1 = 99%
and R2 = 100%. The refractive index is n = 1 and the effective area of the output
beam is 1 mm2. The small-signal gain coefficient γ0(ν0) = 0.1 cm-1 and the saturation
photon-flux density фs = 1.43 x 1019 photons/cm2-s.
(a) Determine the distributed loss coefficients, αm1 and αm2, associated with each of
the mirrors separately. Assuming that αs = 0, find the resonator loss coefficient αr.
(b) Find the photon lifetime τp.
(c) Determine the output photon flux density ф0 and the output power P0.