Physics Certificate Programs

Certificates

The department offers five Graduate Certificate programs to students meeting the regular admission requirements for the master's program. Each Graduate Certificate program is self-contained and highly focused, carrying 12 graduate credits. All of the courses may be used toward the master's degree, as well as for the certificate.

Applied Optics

• PEP 577 Laser Theory and Design

   An introductory course to the theory of lasers; treatment of spontaneous and  stimulated emission, atomic rate equations, laser oscillation conditions,  power output and optimum output coupling; CW and pulsed operation, Q  switching, mode selection, and frequency stabilization; excitation of lasers,  inversion mechanisms, and typical efficiencies; detailed examination of  principal types of lasers, gaseous, solid state, and liquid; chemical lasers,  dye lasers, Raman lasers, high power lasers, TEA lasers, gas dynamic lasers.  Design considerations for GaAlAs, argon ion, helium neon, carbon dioxide,  neodymium YAG and pulsed ruby lasers.      Fall semester.         Typical text: Yariv, Optical Electronics.

• PEP 578 Laser Applications and Advanced Optics

  Integrated optics, nonlinear optics, Pockels effect, Kerr effect, harmonic generation, parametric devices, phase conjugate mirrors, and phase matching. Coherent and incoherent detection, Fourier optics, image processing and holography, and Gaussian optics. Detection of light, signal to noise, PIN and APD diodes, and optical communication. Scattering of light, Rayleigh, Mie, Brillouin, Raman, and Doppler shift scattering. Spring semester.

The following course could be substituted for PEP 578:

• PEP 678 Physics of Optical Communication Systems

  This course explains the physics behind modern optical communication systems at high data rates. The first half of this course covers information theory and light propagation over fiber optic waveguide channels; semiconductor laser sources and detectors; high speed digital optic links; and dense wavelength division multiplexing methods and devices. The second half of this course covers quantum optical information theory; coherent systems and quantum correlations; optical solition-based communication; squeezed light and noise limitations; de-phasing and de-coherence; teleportation and secure communication system protocols; and cryptography and chaotic optics.

Two of the following four courses must be met:

• PEP 515 Photonics I

  This course will cover topics encompassing the fundamental subject matter for the design of optical systems. Topics will include optical system analysis, optical instrument analysis, applications of thin-film coatings and opto-mechanical system design in the first term. The second term will cover the subjects of photometry and radiometry, spectrographic and spectrophotometric systems, infrared radiation measurement and instrumentation, lasers in optical systems and photon-electron conversion. Typical texts: Military Handbook 141 (U.S. Govt. Printing Office); S.P.I.E Reprint Series (Selected Issues); W.J. Smith, Modern Optical Engineering .

• PEP 516 Photonics II

  This course will cover topics encompassing the fundamental subject matter for the design of optical systems. Topics will include optical system analysis, optical instrument analysis, applications of thin-film coatings and opto-mechanical system design in the first term. The second term will cover the subjects of photometry and radiometry, spectrographic and spectrophotometric systems, infrared radiation measurement and instrumentation, lasers in optical systems and photon-electron conversion. Typical texts: Military Handbook 141 (U.S. Govt. Printing Office); S.P.I.E Reprint Series (Selected Issues); W.J. Smith, Modern Optical Engineering .

• PEP 570 Guided-Wave Optics

  Review of electromagnetic theory; derivation of Fresnels’ equations; guided-wave propagation by metallic and dielectric waveguides, including step-index optical fibers and graded-index fibers; optical transmission systems; and nonlinear effects in optical fibers, solitons, and fiber-optic gyroscope.

• PEP 679 Fourier Optics

  Abbe diffraction theory of image formation, spatial filtering, coherence lengths, and areas. Holograms; speckle photography; impulse response function; CTF, OTF, and MTF of lens system; and coherent and incoherent optical signal processing. Spring semester. Typical text: Goodman, Introduction to Fourier Optics.

Atmospheric and Environmental Science and Engineering
(Interdisciplinary with Civil, Ocean, and Environmental Engineering)

• PEP 575 Fundamentals of Atmospheric Radiation and Climate

  This course treats scattering, absorption and emission of electromagnetic radiation in planetary media. The radiative transfer equation is derived, approximate solutions are found. Important heuristic models (Lorentz atom, two-level atom, vibrating rotator) as well as fundamental concepts are discussed including reflectance, absorptance, emittance, radiative warming/cooling rates, actinic radiation, photolysis and biological dose rates. A unified treatment of radiative transfer within the atmosphere and ocean is provided, and extensive use of two-stream and approximate methods is emphasized. Applications to the climate problem focus on the role of greenhouse gases, aerosols and clouds in explaining the temperature structure of the atmosphere and the equilibrium temperature of the earth. The course is suitable for beginning graduate and upper-level undergraduate students.

This graduate certificate program is offered as a campus-based program, as well as a web-based distance learning program.

Microdevices and Microsystems

• PEP 507 Introduction to Microelectronics and Photonics

  An overview of Microelectronics and Photonics Science and Technology.  It provides the student who wishes to specialize in the application, physics or fabrication with the necessary knowledge of how the different aspects are interrelated.  It is taught in three modules: design and applications, taught by EE faculty; operation of electronic and photonic devices, taught by Physics faculty; fabrication and reliability, taught by the
  Materials faculty.

• PEP 595 Reliability and Failure of Solid State Devices

  Treatment of the electrical, chemical, environmental, and mechanical driving forces that compromise the integrity and lead to the failure of devices. Both chip and packaging level failures will be modeled and quantified statistically. On the packaging level, thermal stresses, solder creep, fatigue and fracture, contact relaxation, corrosion and environmental degradation will be treated.

• PEP 596 Micro-Fabrication Techniques

  Discussions of aspects of the technology of processing procedures involved in the fabrication of microelectronic devices and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Topics with respect to IC fabrication include crystal growth, epitaxy, silicon oxide growth, impurity doping, ion implantation, photo and electron beam lithography, etching, sputtering, thin film metallization, passivation and packaging. Students will also learn that MEMS are sensors and actuators that are designed using different areas of engineering disciplines and they are constructed using a microlithographically-based manufacturing process in conjunction with both semiconductor and micromachining microfabrication technologies.

• PEP 685 Physical Design of Wireless Systems

  Physical design of wireless communication systems, emphasizing present and  next generation architectures.  Impact of non-linear components on  performance; noise sources and effects; interference; optimization of receiver  and transmitter architectures; individual components (LNAs, power amplifiers,  mixers, filters, VCOs, phase-locked loops, frequency synthesizers, etc.);  digital signal processing for adaptable architectures; analog-digital  converters; new component technologies (SiGe, MEMS, etc.); specifications of  component performance; reconfigurability and the role of digital signal  processing in future generation architectures; direct conversion; RF  packaging; minimization of power dissipation in receivers.

Any ONE elective in the three certificates above may be replaced with another within the Microelectronics and Photonics (MP) curriculum upon approval from the MP Program Director.

Microelectronics

• PEP 507 Introduction to Microelectronics and Photonics

  An overview of Microelectronics and Photonics Science and Technology.  It provides the student who wishes to specialize in the application, physics or fabrication with the necessary knowledge of how the different aspects are interrelated.  It is taught in three modules: design and applications, taught by EE faculty; operation of electronic and photonic devices, taught by Physics faculty; fabrication and reliability, taught by the
  Materials faculty.

• PEP 561 Solid State Electronics for Engineering I

  This course introduces fundamentals of semiconductors and basic building blocks of semiconductor devices that are necessary for understanding semiconductor device operations. It is for first-year graduate students and upper-class undergraduate students in electrical engineering, applied physics, engineering physics, optical engineering and materials engineering, who have no previous exposure to solid state physics and semiconductor devices. Topics covered will include description of crystal structures and bonding; introduction to statistical description of electron gas; free-electron theory of metals; motion of electrons in periodic lattice-energy bands; Fermi levels; semiconductors and insulators; electrons and holes in semiconductors; impurity effects; generation and recombination; mobility and other electrical properties of semiconductors; thermal and optical properties; p-n junctions; metal-semiconductor contacts.

• PEP 562 Solid State Electronics for Engineering II

  This course introduces operating principles and develops models of modern semiconductor devices that are useful in the analysis and design of integrated circuits. Topics covered include: charge carrier transport in semiconductors; diffusion and drift, injection, and lifetime of carriers; p-n junction devices; bipolar junction transistors; metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors; metal-semiconductor field effect transistors and high electron mobility transistors, microwave devices; light emitting diodes, semiconductor lasers, and photodetectors; and integrated devices.

• PEP 690 Introduction to VLSI Design

  Introduction to the principles and design techniques of very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI). Topics include: MOS transistor characteristics, DC analysis, resistance, capacitance models, transient analysis, propagation delay, power dissipation, CMOS logic design, transistor sizing, layout methodologies, clocking schemes, case studies. Students will use VLSI CAD tools for layout, and simulation.

Photonics

• PEP 507 Introduction to Microelectronics and Photonics

  An overview of Microelectronics and Photonics Science and Technology.  It provides the student who wishes to specialize in the application, physics or fabrication with the necessary knowledge of how the different aspects are interrelated.  It is taught in three modules: design and applications, taught by EE faculty; operation of electronic and photonic devices, taught by Physics faculty; fabrication and reliability, taught by the
  Materials faculty.

• PEP 515 Photonics I

  This course will cover topics encompassing the fundamental subject matter for the design of optical systems. Topics will include optical system analysis, optical instrument analysis, applications of thin-film coatings and opto-mechanical system design in the first term. The second term will cover the subjects of photometry and radiometry, spectrographic and spectrophotometric systems, infrared radiation measurement and instrumentation, lasers in optical systems and photon-electron conversion. Typical texts: Military Handbook 141 (U.S. Govt. Printing Office); S.P.I.E Reprint Series (Selected Issues); W.J. Smith, Modern Optical Engineering .

• PEP 516 Photonics II

  This course will cover topics encompassing the fundamental subject matter for the design of optical systems. Topics will include optical system analysis, optical instrument analysis, applications of thin-film coatings and opto-mechanical system design in the first term. The second term will cover the subjects of photometry and radiometry, spectrographic and spectrophotometric systems, infrared radiation measurement and instrumentation, lasers in optical systems and photon-electron conversion. Typical texts: Military Handbook 141 (U.S. Govt. Printing Office); S.P.I.E Reprint Series (Selected Issues); W.J. Smith, Modern Optical Engineering .

• PEP 626 Optical Communication Systems

  Topics covered include components for and design of optical communication systems; propagation of optical signals in single mode and multimode optical fibers; optical sources and photodetectors; optical modulators and multiplexers; optical communication systems: coherent modulators, optical fiber amplifiers and repeaters, transcontinental and transoceanic optical telecommunication system design; optical fiber local area networks.