Optical Efficiency and Resolution

You can also take this course for academic credit under ECEA 5601 as part of CU Boulder's Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.

Optic instruments are what we use to see the world. They can be used for corrective eyewear, medical endoscopes, cell phone cameras, orbiting telescopes, and even medical endoscopes. This course will show you how to create such optical systems using simple mathematical and graphic techniques. While the first order optical system design discussed in the previous course can be used to design an initial optical imaging system, it does not provide a prediction of its energy or resolution. This course explains how intensity propagates for Gaussian beams as well as incoherent sources. This course also covers the mathematical background necessary to design an optical system that has the desired field of view and resolution. These characteristics can be analyzed using OpticStudio, an industry-standard design tool by Zemax.