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Optical Design Tools for Photonics Engineering Education

Alexander N. Cartwright, Pratibha Gopalam, Vamsy P. Chodavarapu and Bill Kirkey

Department of Electrical Engineering, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.

Abstract

JavaT M Educational Applets have demonstrated that they are powerful tools for the development of web-based educational materials and design tools because these resources can be accessed by anyone who has access to the World Wide Web (WWW) and they present the matter in dynamic visual appealing manner. In this paper, we will review a comprehensive set of photonics applets, an accompanying website and a necessary framework dealing with the development of optical design tools which are available for online teaching, experimentation and research. To date, the design tools developed cover ray tracing, Gaussian beams, polarization, gain medium and gain dynamics, modulators and optical cavities. In addition, the resources include a number of demonstration applets such as photon lifetime, wave interference, Snell’s law and others. The main advantages of embedding design into optics courses, by using simulation software, are that the underlying and fundamental principles are made easy to understand by creating a platform on which students can experiment with the various facts and design new systems which may otherwise require a large and an expensive setup of laboratory equipment and at the same time making the theoretical courses more interesting to learn. Moreover, we are simultaneously attempting to develop tools that researchers can use to readily simulate complicated systems which may otherwise require hours of work.

Introduction

The photonics industry is growing at a very high rate in response to an increase in the market demand for new photonics equipment like fiber optic communications systems, optical scanners, displays and laser printers leading to a demand for skilled workers with hands-on experience and the ability to design and develop new systems.

“Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright ©2002, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Chodavarapu, V., & Kirkey, B., & Cartwright, A., & Gopalam, P. (2002, June), Optical Design Tools For Photonics Engineering Education Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10669