The end-semester examination will be of 35 marks and 3 hours duration.
The question paper will consist of three sections: A, B, and C.
Sections A and B: Five questions each, with each question carrying 6 marks.
Section C: Compulsory section with 11 short-answer questions covering the entire syllabus.
🎓 For the Candidates
Students are required to attempt four questions in total from Sections A and B, selecting two questions from each section.
Section C is compulsory.
Use of scientific calculator is allowed.
📘 Syllabus
Section A 🌟
Interference:
Concept of coherence, spatial and temporal coherence, coherence time, coherence length, and area of coherence.
Conditions for observing interference fringes. Interference by wavefront and amplitude division. Working principle of Michelson's interferometer, nature of fringes.
Interference in thin films.
Anti-reflection and high-reflection dielectric coatings.
Multiple beam interference, Fabry-Perot interferometer, nature of fringes,
Newton Rings.
Section B 🔍
Diffraction:
Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction, half-period zones, zone plates, diffraction by rectangular and circular apertures.
Effects of diffraction on optical imaging. Resolving power of a telescope. Diffraction grating as a spectroscopic element and its resolving power.
Polarization:
Concept of unpolarized, plane-polarized, and elliptically polarized light.
Double refraction, Nicol prism, sheet polarizer, and retardation plates.
Production and analysis of polarized light using quarter and half-wave plates.
📚 Books Recommended
Fundamentals of Optics, by F.A. Jenkins and Harvey E. White, McGraw-Hill, 4th Edition, 2001. 📖
Optics, by Ajoy Ghatak, Macmillan India, 2nd Edition, 7th Reprint, 1997. 📘
Introduction to Atomic Spectra, by H.E. White, McGraw-Hill. 📚
Optics, by Born and Wolf, Pergamon Press, 3rd Edition, 1965. 📙