Course unit, curriculum year 2025–2026
FYS.501
Laser Physics, 5 cr
Tampere University
- Description
- Completion options
Teaching periods
Active in period 2 (20.10.2025–31.12.2025)
Active in period 3 (1.1.2026–1.3.2026)
Active in period 4 (2.3.2026–31.5.2026)
Course code
FYS.501Language of instruction
EnglishAcademic years
2024–2025, 2025–2026, 2026–2027Level of study
Advanced studiesGrading scale
General scale, 0-5Persons responsible
Responsible teacher:
Marco OrnigottiResponsible teacher:
Goery GentyResponsible organisation
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences 100 %
Coordinating organisation
Starting from 1.8.2024:
Physics Studies 100 %Core content
- Basic structure of a laser
- Properties of a laser beam:
- Coherence
- Directionality
- Monochromaticity
- Brightness
- Fundamental interactions between light and matter
- Fundamental processes
- 2-, 3-, and 4-level systems
- Population inversion
- Semiclassical theory of light-matter interaction
- Broadening mechanisms
- Saturation of absorption and gain
- Optical resonators properties
- Ray optics approach to optical resonators
- Fabry-Perot interferometer
- ABCD matrices
- Stability of an optical resonator
- Quality factor and cavity lifetime
- Paraxial Optics and Gaussian beams
- Paraxial approximation
- Fundamental Gaussian beam
- Higher-order modes and cavity symmetry
- Continuous wave laser operation
- Rate equations
- Conversion efficiency
- Optimisation of output power
- Coherence
- Saturation effects
- Propagation of Gaussian beams
- Modes characteristics inside resonators
Learning outcomes
Compulsory prerequisites
Further information
Learning material
Equivalences
Studies that include this course
Completion option 1
2x2h lecture and 1x2h exercise session per week. Weekly assignments to be solved by the students and submitted for grading. It is compulsory for a student to be admitted to the final exam, to present their weekly assignments at least once during the exercise sessions. The final grade for the course will be calculated as follows: final exam (60%) + weekly assignments (40%).
Completion of all options is required.
Participation in teaching
20.10.2025 – 07.12.2025
Active in period 2 (20.10.2025–31.12.2025)