The assessment for the unit is composed of fortnightly take-home problem sets, exercises in the computational laboratory and the final examination.

Assignments (30%)

Four assignments of problem sets will be set and marked for assessment purposes and issued approximately once every three weeks. Problems may be a mix of analytic derivations calculations, computer coding and/or use of computational modelling tools. Worked solutions will be provided to problem sets after the due date. These problem sets are excellent preparation for the final examination, and our strong experience is that students who engage with the problem-solving tasks do well in the unit overall.

Academic integrity 

Informal group discussion regarding the material connected to problem-set questions is encouraged, but each student must independently develop and write up their own solutions. Do not hesitate to seek help from the lecturing team if you are having difficulties with the assigned problems. All students must comply with the academic integrity policy by preparing and submitting their answers independently. To ensure compliance interviews with selected students may be conducted where there is undue similarity in submitted solutions.

Breaches of the academic integrity policy may lead to sanctions that may include, but are not limited to, award of a failure grade for the unit and/or temporary suspension form studies. In cases determined by law the University has a legal obligation to disclose the applied sanctions to outside parties, including certain employers.

Extensions

Extension for the assignments may be requested well in advance with a suitable justification. No extensions to the assignment due dates will be granted within 48 hours of the original due date.

Laboratory task (30%)

There will be approximately 6 laboratory tasks of about 2 hours duration, mostly experimental, some potentially computational.

Assessment will be on the basis of a laboratory notebook, in the style of a professional photonics scientest or engineer. The notebooks should include brief summaries of the purpose of each experiment, details of equipment used, measurements taken, error analysis, plots and brief conclusions. The intended audience would be your peers within a research or measurement group.

Final examination (40%)

There will be a 2 hour end-of-session exam to be held in the University Examination Period.

Permitted materials will be advised in advance.

You are expected to present yourself for the final examination at the time and place designated in the University examination timetable (https://iexams.mq.edu.au/timetable). The timetable will be available in draft form approximately eight weeks before the commencement of examinations and in final form approximately four weeks before the commencement of examinations. If you receive special consideration for the final exam, a supplementary exam will be scheduled during the supplementary exam period. By making a special consideration application for the final exam you are declaring yourself available for a resit during the supplementary examination period and will not be eligible for a second special consideration approval based on pre-existing commitments. Please ensure you are familiar with the policy prior to submitting an application. Approved applicants will receive an individual notification one week prior to the exam with the exact date and time of their supplementary examination.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty 

From 1 July 2022, Students enrolled in Session based units with written assessments will have the following late penalty applied. Please see https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/assessments for more information. 

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7^th day (including weekends). After the 7^th day, a grade of '0' will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern. 

 For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.  

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted 

In this unit, late submissions will accepted as follows: 

• Assignments: Yes, standard late penalty applies
• Lab exercises: Yes, standard late penalty applies
• Exam: Not relevant.

About the content

We will take a survey approach covering a selection of topics from the following:

• elementary properties of light
• the theory of ray optics
• Laser theory and rate equations
• Q-switching and mode-locking
• Maxwell's equations and the wave equation
• optical waveguides and propagation
• anisotropic materials
• nonlinear optics
• optical communications
• molecular spectroscopy
• frequency combs

Delivery

With a very small class, we will adopt a mix of discussion-style meetings and lectorials, student-led discussions, and home reading.

- New Teaching staff.

- Inclusion of new possible topics: Laser theory, rate equations, Q-switching and mode-locking, frequency combs and molecular spectroscopy.