Experimental course in optical communication

• Identify the key elements of a laser, assemble and characterise it
• Apply interferometers for controlled manipulation of light
• Characterise and interpret impact of measureable phenomena in optical fibres
• Characterise and interpret measurable phenomena in optical amplifiers
• Demonstrate the implementation of an optical transmitter and characterise it.
• Characterize the components required for implementing a digital optical communication system
• Assemble a point-to-point full optical communication system
• Evaluate the quality and performance of an optical communication system
• Plan experimental set-ups
• Write a detailed scientific log-book

Lasers (build one from scratch)
Fibres (transmission, loss, polarisation, dispersion, nonlinear effects, scattering)
Optical components (Raman and Erbium doped fibre amplifiers, modulators)
Optical data transmission over fibre
Digital optical systems (communication quality assessment).

The course consists of mandatory laboratory experiments one session per week (4 hours). Experiments will be carried out in groups of 2-4, while keeping individual log books of the experiments. Each student should be prepared from home by reading the exercise manuals and answer the assignments. Furthermore, the student needs to prepare a small presentation of previous week results.

This course is approved to replace the technology core course 34127 Experimental Optics and Photonics when starting on MSc in Photonics Engineering. Contact the head of studies of Photonics Engineering for approval.

Maximum: 12.

Please be aware that this course has a limited number of seats available. If there are too many applicants, a pool will be created for the remainder of the qualified applicants, and they will be selected at random. You will be informed 8 days before the start of the course, whether you have been allocated a spot.