Optoelectronics

Course objectives

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING. Students will acquire a consistent knowledge of phenomena, materials, devices and optoelectronic techniques related to the generation, detection and processing of optical signals, to the photovoltaics for solar energy conversion, for reduction of power consumption. CAPABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING. Students will acquire capabilities to design and to evaluate performance of devices according to the specifications provided, both by lectures and laboratory experiences, for specific applications from telecom, to sensors, to optical instrumentation. MAKING AUTONOMOUS JUDGEMENTS. Students will acquire the expertise to design and to evaluate performance of most optoelectronic devices for any optoelectronic system. COMMUNICATE SKILLS. Students will acquire the capabilities to communicate in both written and oral form on the contents of the course, by means of written reports and oral discussions both in the classroon and during the exam. LEARNING SKILLS. Students will acquire the capabilities to learn the contents of the course by several means using lecture notes, books, technical and scientific literature available on web, laboratory experiences as indicated by the teacher.

Channel 1
ANTONIO D'ALESSANDRO Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
The course is focused on materials, devices, design techniques and technologies of optoelectronic devices. Main topics of the course are reported below (in parenthesis the number of approximated hours) including theory and practice. Optical properties of bulk and nanostructured semiconductors (6 hours) LED light sources based on inorganic and organic semconductors (OLED) with applications for lighting and flat panel display and comparison with liquid crystal technology (6 hours) Laser Light sources (6 hours) Photodetectors (single element and pixellated) (10 hours) Dielectric materials for optoelectronics (glass, anisotropic crystals) (2 hours) Integrated optic devices based on optical waveguides including silicon photonics (8 hours) Electro-optic effects for optical switches and laser modulators, acousto-optic effect for tunable optical filters (6 hours) Nanophotonic devices based on photonic bandgap materials (2 hours) Fiber optics: physical and propagation characteristics, fabrication technologies (6 hours) Lab demonstrations on optical source and photodetectors (4 hours) CAD tools for designing integrated optic devices (4 hours)
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of Electronics from courses of bachelor level L8 or of Physics
Books
• G. P. Agrawal, Lightwave Technology: Components and Devices, Wiley Interscience, 2004 • A. Yariv, Optical Electronics in Modern Communications, Oxford University Press, 1997 • J. Singh, Semiconductor Optoelectronics, McGraw‐Hill, 1995 • P. Bhattacharya, Semiconductor Optoelectronic Devices, Prentice Hall, 1994 • H. Nishihara, H. Masamitsu, S. Toshiaki, Optical Integrated Circuits, McGraw‐Hill, 1989 • Slides available on the webpage Classroom (registration required)
Frequency
In presence not mandatory but strongly suggested
Exam mode
Oral or written test on two topics of the course.
Bibliography
G. P. Agrawal, Lightwave Technology: Components and Devices, Wiley Interscience, 2004 • A. Yariv, Optical Electronics in Modern Communications, Oxford University Press, 1997 • J. Singh, Semiconductor Optoelectronics, McGraw‐Hill, 1995 • P. Bhattacharya, Semiconductor Optoelectronic Devices, Prentice Hall, 1994 • H. Nishihara, H. Masamitsu, S. Toshiaki, Optical Integrated Circuits, McGraw‐Hill, 1989
Lesson mode
In presence theory lectures with exercise on optoelectronic device design with lab experiences
  • Lesson code1041744
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseElectronics Engineering
  • CurriculumIngegneria Elettronica (percorso valido anche ai fini del conseguimento del doppio titolo italo-statunitense o italo-francese)
  • Year2nd year
  • Semester1st semester
  • SSDING-INF/01
  • CFU6