Photonic systems and technology

Summary

The physics of optical communication components and their applications to communication systems will be covered. The course is intended to present the operation principles of contemporary optical communication systems employing optical fibers and modern optoelectronic devices.

Content

Keywords

Optical communication, fiber optics, laser, optical amplification, nonlinear optics

Learning Prerequisites

Recommended courses

Electromagnetics I and II, Introduction to photonics

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Identify the different sources of performance degradation on an optical link
• Assess / Evaluate the limitations of an optical link based on fiber and light source parameters
• Explain the operating principles of various electro-optics devices such as lasers, modulators and detectors
• Compare the performance of different photo-detectors
• Assess / Evaluate ther performance of optical data transmission based on bit error rates
• Explain the source of optical nonlinearities
• Compute power budgets, dispersion limits and rise time budgets
• Derive rate equations for lasing and amplification
• Justify the use of a component in an optical link depending on the application and the required performance

Teaching methods

Ex cathedra and integrated exercices

Assessment methods

Written

Resources

Bibliography

Handouts given during the class

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/EE-440

Prerequisite for

Semester projects, master thesis projects, doctoral thesis