Optics: a vital branch of science and technology

Optics: the branch of physics and engineering which describes the behaviour of light and its  interaction with matter and utilizes it.
More precisely, "Optics is the field of science and engineering encompassing the physical phenomena and technologies associated with the generation transmission manipulation detection and utilization of light" (ref.: "Harnessing Light: Optical Science and Engineering for the 21st Century", National Academy Press 1998 ISDN 1-800-624-6242"...)

Applications: biosciences to medical technology, quantum physics to telecommunications, optical systems to mechatronics and image analysis.
Optics has been around for many centuries and will remain at the heart of science and technology for century to come.
MSc OpSciTech is your opportunity to be part of the vibrant community of optics scientists and engineers.

Optics: engineering a vision of the future

MSc OpSciTech is a unique European Master’s Course providing a comprehensive and multidisciplinary coverage of the field of Optics, from upstream scientific aspects to engineering and applications in major sectors of the economy.
Offered by six top-level academic partners in five countries, it receives financial support from the European Commission and is supported by major industries such as Alcatel-Lucent, Philips, Saint-Gobain, Thales, Zeiss or ASML.

Why are optical multi modes of interest? Many applications of optics require the recording and detection of information that has a few well defined degrees of freedom. Unlike normal imaging, where we don't have prior knowledge and strive for the best overall resolution, many applications in sensing, communication and data storage require high quality, high sensitivity optical processing of spatial information in strictly defined formats. In these situations it is useful to analyse the apparatus in terms of spatial modes. By finding these modes, and matching them throughout the apparatus, it is possible to increase the sensitivity, to reduce external noise and to find the optimal configuration for a given application.
The workshop is open to anyone interested. Participants are welcome to contribute with a poster presentation. Registration is free but mandatory for a smooth organisation (Registration deadline: May 08th). Participants will be able to purchase lunch tickets on site.

Organizers: Alain Aspect, Denis Boiron and Pierre Chavel, Institut d'Optique Graduate School.With the support of Société Française d'Optique and Anciens de SupOptique.

Contact: denis.boiron@institutoptique.fr
Please, find below the links to the PDF files that contain the workshop lecture slides:

H.A.Bachor (ANU, ARC Center of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics – Canberra, Australia):

spatial multi modes a tool for classical and quantum Optics (1.6Mo)

S.Pereira  [University of Technology  – Delft, The Netherlands]:

P. Chavel  [Institut d'Optique – Palaiseau, France] :
Introduction to Zernike circle polynomials for the description of wavefronts and aberrations (0.4Mo)

V.N. Mahajan  [The Aerospace Corporation – El Segundo, CA, USA] :
Orthonormal polynomials for wavefront analysis in optical design and testing (1.9Mo)

F. Bociort  [University of Technology  – Delft, The Netherlands] :
Optimization of Optical Imaging Systems (1.5Mo)

J. Primot, N. Guérineau  [ONERA – Palaiseau, France] :
Shearing interferometry for wavefront sensing (1.4Mo)

J.-M. Conan  [ONERA – Châtillon, France] :
Principles of adaptive optics and new challenges for extremely large astronomical telescopes (1.8Mo)

I. Lifshits [St Petersburg, Russia] :
Expert system for lens starting points selection – Application examples in lens design practice (1.0Mo)

V.N. Mahajan  [The Aerospace Corporation – El Segundo, CA, USA] :
Beam focusing and depth of focus (0.4Mo)

The partners in MSc OpSciTech are:

• Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
• Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
• University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
• Imperial College London, The United Kingdom
• Université Paris-Sud 11 and Institut d’Optique Graduate School*, Paris, France
• Warsaw University of Technology, Poland

* coordinator