APh 150 is an introductory survey of nanophotonics topics, including: Helmholtz and Maxwell equations, complex dielectric function, propagating and evanescent fields in complex dielectric media, frequency dispersion and dispersion relations, spatial dispersion, radiation from dipole and multipole sources, dipole-dipole interactions, optical response of metals and dielectrics, localized surface plasmons, energy localization and hot spots, surface plasmon polaritons, phonon polaritons, exciton polaritons, local electromagnetic fields near nanostructures, the local density of optical states, light propagation in periodic and resonant structures: cavities, photonic crystals, metamaterials and optical antennas; optical resolution, point-spread function, near-field optics; introductory quantum electrodynamics, Casimir effect, spontaneous emission, spontaneous scattering, Purcell effect; computational methods for nanophotonics: finite element integration, finite difference time domain, boundary element method, rigorous coupled wave analysis.
Current students can access class materials, including lecture notes, homework assignments and reading materials on Caltech’s course management site, Moodle.
For any questions regarding the class (i.e.: mailing lists, T.A. hours, Moodle access), please contact Tiffany Kimoto or the class T.A.s.