uwloo

PHYS 393Physical Optics

Units
0.50
Faculty
Science
Subject
Physics

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 1 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Fourier Optics: diffraction, dispersion, coherence, imaging. Polarization: birefringence, Jones vectors, Mueller Matrices. Fresnel Equations: optics at an interface, thin films.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
      • PHYS256 - Geometrical and Physical Optics (0.50)
      • ECE404 - Geometrical and Physical Optics (0.50)
    • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
      • AMATH353 - Partial Differential Equations 1 (0.50)
      • PHYS225 - Modelling Biological Physics (0.50)
      • PHYS364 - Mathematical Physics 1 (0.50)

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Reviewed on UW Flow

100% liked it40% easy95% useful

From 8 ratings and 5 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Prof was extremely knowledgable and a fantastic lecturer. The course itself is pretty interesting. Course has three "pillars": light in a medium, polarization, and Fourier optics. The amount of content was pretty reasonable. Familiarity with EM is helpful but PHYS 242 should be enough. Office hours are very helpful. Exams and assignments have conceptual components that can be challenging, but luckily the prof is very, VERY good at explaining the material intuitively. Exams are fair, but are easy to bomb if you don't prepare properly, so be careful. Overall, would definitely recommend.

    Apr 2024 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Awesome course, love rajibul's teaching. He did some demos with optics and code to give us intuition about interference. Fourier optics is definitely the highlight of this course, it's a pretty powerful tool. There is a little bit of E&M in the first few weeks of the course though. This course is very useful in giving intuition in optics - really useful for any future lab work.

    Apr 2024 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I really truly love optics and want to love this course as well but couldn't, if you can't make it to office hours its over for you

    Aug 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • The course is interresting and useful, but the TAs mark very hardly (no points for trying, ...)

    Jan 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This is a refreshing course to take after having taken a few upper year electricity and magnetism courses, as we use that knowledge to break down the underlying physics behind optical phenomena. I especially appreciated seeing the formalism behind Fourier Optics, as it looks like a gateway to even more impressive behaviours.

    Jul 2020 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar