58勛圖

PH4034 Principles of Lasers

Academic year

2026 to 2027 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

15

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Not automatically available to General Degree students

Module description

This module presents a basic description of the main physical concepts upon which an understanding of laser materials, operations and applications can be based. The syllabus includes: basic concepts of energy-level manifolds in gain media, particularly in respect of population inversion and saturation effects; conditions for oscillator stability in laser resonator configurations and transverse and longitudinal cavity mode descriptions; single longitudinal mode operation for spectral purity and phase locking of longitudinal modes for the generation of periodic sequences of intense ultrashort pulses (i.e. laser modelocking); illustrations of line-narrowed and modelocked lasers and the origin and exploitability of intensity-induced nonlinear optical effects.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS PH3081 OR PASS PH3082 OR ( PASS MT2506 AND PASS MT2507 )

Anti-requisites

YOU CANNOT TAKE THIS MODULE IF YOU TAKE PH5005

Assessment pattern

2-hour Written Examination = 90%, Coursework = 10%

Re-assessment

Oral Re-assessment, capped at grade 7

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

3 lectures or tutorials.

Scheduled learning hours

33

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

117

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Competent handling of laser transition and loss rates and their combination in rate equations for the steady state.
  • Assessment of resonators, their stability and supported fundamental transverse mode.
  • Ability to determine and harness the longitudinal mode content in a laser output.
  • Familiarity with major techniques for pulsed lasers.
  • Overview of principal practical laser systems.

Additional information from school

For guidance on AS and PH modules please consult the School Handbook at /physics-astronomy/students/ug/timetables-handbooks/