The lecture covers mid-infrared and terahertz light generation techniques (lasers, frequency conversion) and applications in spectroscopy, gas sensing, biomedical, military, and high-field physics.
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The course covers optical laboratory workflows, Python data analysis, and three experiments: single-mode fiber coupling, Michelson interferometry, and Python exercises on data interpolation and Fourier transforms.
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Students work on a topic related to current research activities. Exemplary topics are semiconductor lasers, spectroscopy and spin-optoelectronics. The project takes place as block course on appointment.
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Students gained a fundamental understanding of ultrafast laser-plasma interactions, from photo-ionization and particle dynamics to relativistic acceleration and secondary radiation generation (THz, X-rays).
The lecture starts with the fundamentals how to mathematically describe an electromagnetic pulse in the time- and frequency domains, and continues to describe how linear and nonlinear effects, as well as different technologically relevant combinations of effects affect them. Afterwards, different methods to measure and characterize pulses and pulse trains as well as generation of ultrashort pulses are discussed.
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The goal is to use the Python programming language to solve common every-day tasks that arise in Photonics. Solving problems using programming is the main focus of the lecture and all tasks will require it.
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Supervisor: Robin Löscher
Responsibilities:
• Completion and alignment of white-light interferometer setup
• Integration of exotic 2-μm light sources and detectors
• Development of Python-based data processing algorithms for GDD extraction
• System benchmarking with reference samples and uncertainty analysis
• Characterization of experimental dispersive mirrors and optical components
General project description:
Implementing group delay dispersion (GDD) measurements in an ultra-broadband white-light interferometer.
GDD characterization is critical for ultrafast laser
development, especially for soliton mode-locked oscillators and post-compression of ultrashort laser pulses.
You will complete the existing interferometer setup with appropriate broadband light sources, polarization management, and detectors for the exotic 2-μm spectral region.
The project establishes critical measurement infrastructure while providing hands-on experience with precision interferometry, advanced data analysis, and ultrafast optics fundamentals.
Further reading:
A. Gosteva et al., "Noise-related resolution limit of dispersion measurements with white-light interferometers,"
Journal of the Optical Society of
America B 22, 1868 (2005)
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Last update: Sep 25, 2026