This course provides in-depth the basic concepts and design issues associated with different types of optical fibers. The course will cover the propagation characteristics of optical fibers like attenuation, dispersion, etc. Recent areas of importance like dispersion compensating fibers, fiber gratings, erbium-doped amplifiers will also be discussed.

Knowledge of wave optics is required to understand many important optical phenomena and also the working of numerous optical devices. The course will start with Huygens principle, followed by interference and diffraction of light waves. Many interesting and practical examples like antireflection coatings, fiber Bragg gratings, diffraction spreading of laser beams and holography will be discussed. The polarization characteristics of an optical beam along with its applications will also be covered.