Courses in the Optoelectronics Specialization

The Optoelectronics program at W.S.U. is intended for students who want to specialize in this rapidly growing area of science and technology. The goal is to educate students in advanced research topics in optoelectronics rather than to train them for a research career. The program combines graduate courses presently taught in the Departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering. The students are expected to take a total of eight graduate (3 credit hour) courses or equivalent, six of which represent the core lecture courses of the program. The remaining two courses consist of two graduate optoelectronics laboratories. Additional specialized courses are chosen from the list provided below. Students are also encouraged to enroll in advanced seminar courses.

The fundamentals will be taught in two courses: electromagnetism and quantum mechanics. We believe that these courses provide the students with a solid foundation from which to adapt to a wide variety of problems in optics and opto-electronics. The four graduate optoelectronics courses introduce current optoelectronics concepts and integrate the research of W.S.U. faculty with the M.S. program of study. At the heart of the program is a two semester hands-on laboratory. In the first semester, students are trained in optics and experimental techniques and concepts. In the second semester, students participate in challenging group projects that require cooperation and peer instruction. In both semesters, students are exposed to current optoelectronics instrumentation.

Students who have little familiarity with optics are strongly advised to take, in addition to the eight graduate courses required for the M.S., the undergraduate physics optics course (Phys 443). An additional semester of full time research at W.S.U. or at an accredited laboratory specializing in optoelectronics is required.

The detailed description of the Optoelectronics Specialization can be found in the Physics Graduate Student Handbook.

Courses in the M.S. Program: