Frontiers of Photon Science - course unit details - MPhys Physics - full details (2025 entry)

Duration: 4 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: F305 / Institution code: M20

Key features:
Scholarships available
Accredited course

Typical A-level offer: A*A*A including specific subjects
Typical contextual A-level offer: A*AA including specific subjects
Refugee/care-experienced offer: AAA including specific subjects
Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 38 points overall with 7,7,6 at HL, including specific requirements

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Fees and funding

Fees

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £36,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

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Course unit details:
Frontiers of Photon Science

Course unit fact file
Unit code	PHYS40611
Credit rating	10
Unit level	Level 4
Teaching period(s)	Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit?	No

Overview

Frontiers of Photon Science

Aims

1. To gain an appreciation of the techniques of photon science.

In particular, to understand how:

• ultrafast laser pulses are produced, characterised and used

• nonlinear frequency conversion techniques can be used to change the wavelength of laser beams

• terahertz-frequency light is produced and detected

2. To illustrate the application of these techniques in scientific research

3. To provide a suitable introduction to students wishing to pursue postgraduate research in

photon science.

Learning outcomes

On completion successful students will be able to:

1. Describe the equipment and techniques used by photon scientists to produce and measure ultrafast laser pulses in the UV, visible, infra-red and terahertz spectral regions.

2. Analyse the optical response of nonlinear materials and explain how it can be optimised to enable the significant wavelength conversion of laser beams.

3. Describe terahertz radiation and its effect on materials

4. Explain quantitatively how these techniques can be used in scientific research to gain an understanding of electronic processes occurring on a sub-nanosecond time-scale.

Syllabus

1. Producing ultrafast laser pulses (2 lectures)

Mode-locking; dependence of pulse length and peak power on mode number; active and passive techniques. Oscillator-amplifier systems.

2. Nonlinear frequency conversion (8 lectures)

Nonlinear optical materials; modification of the wave-equation; three-wave coupling; phase-matching; second harmonic and sum-frequency generation; optical parametric amplifiers and oscillators

3. Advanced ultrafast laser diagnostics (2 lectures)

Single- and multiple-shot autocorrelators. Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating (FROG). Spectral Phase Interferometry for Direct Electric-field Reconstruction (SPIDER).

4. Terahertz spectroscopy (8 lectures)

Pump-probe detection techniques. Methods of generating terahertz radiation (photoconductive antennas and optical rectification). Electro-optic sampling. Time-domain and frequency-domain techniques. Asynchronous optical sampling methods. Applications of terahertz spectroscopy (conductivity processes in semiconductors and biomolecules).

5. Ultrafast Transient Absorption Spectroscopy (2 lectures).

White light continuum generation. Application to carrier dynamics in quantum dots: state-filling effects; carrier cooling and recombination; carrier trapping; multiexciton effects including Auger recombination and biexciton binding energy. Mulitple exciton generation as means of exceeding the Shockley-Queisser limit to solar cell efficiency.

Assessment methods

Method	Weight
Written exam	100%

Feedback methods

Feedback will be available on students’ solutions to problem sheets.

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Assessment written exam	1.5
Lectures	22

Independent study hours
Independent study	76.5

Teaching staff

Staff member	Role
Darren Graham	Unit coordinator
David Binks	Unit coordinator

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MPhys Physics