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Graduate Program

Degrees Offered

• Master of Science in Optical Science and Engineering (M.S.)
  Concentrations: Entrepreneurship and Technology Management; Imaging Science; Optical Science; Photonics.
• Doctor of Philosophy in Optical Science and Engineering (Ph.D.)
  Concentrations: Imaging Science; Optical Science; Photonics; Quantum Optics.

The Optical Science and Engineering Program is jointly administered by the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the School of Engineering.

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Master of Science in Optical Science and Engineering

Current research areas: Advanced materials, atom optics, biomedical optics, fiber optics, laser physics, lithography, nanostructures, nonlinear optics, optical imaging, optical sensors, optoelectronics, photonic integrated circuits, quantum optics, spectroscopy, and ultrafast phenomena.

The M.S. in Optical Science and Engineering degree program is designed with two distinct objectives: to prepare a student for the industrial workforce engaged in any area of optics and photonics, and to prepare a student to meet the challenges of a more advanced research career in these areas. The program presents the following options under which a student can begin to fulfill his or her career goals within a flexible curriculum.

The M.S. in Optical Science and Engineering is offered under Plan I (thesis), Plan II (non-thesis), and Plan III (coursework only) according to the general requirements specified in the Graduate Program section of this Catalog.

Under Plan I (thesis), a minimum of 24 credit hours of coursework and 6 hours of thesis credit is required. This plan is designed to launch the student on an industrial research and development career path.

Under Plan II-a (non-thesis, course-based), a minimum of 33 credit hours of coursework including 3 credit hours (at least 2 of which must be in Optics) of research seminar (PHYS 500/501) or individual research/problems (ECE 551/651 or PHYS 552/650) is required. This plan is a course-based option commonly used by students to earn the M.S. degree en route to the Ph.D degree. Successful completion of an oral M.S. comprehensive examination is required.

Under Plan II-b (non-thesis, internship-based), a minimum of 33 credit hours of coursework including 3-6 credit hours of internship (ECE/PHYS 559) is required. This plan is designed to launch the student on an industrial research and development career path. Through its internship, Plan II-b allows for private companies, national/federal laboratories, and their contractors to partner with UNM in content areas in mutually beneficial ways by means of either a first look at potential recruits or a more interactive career advancement of their current employees. Successful completion of an oral M.S. comprehensive examination is required. 

Under Plan III (coursework only), a minimum of 36 credit hours of coursework including 12 credit hours of program electives is required. This plan is designed for students who wish to broaden their horizons within optics through academic coursework study as opposed to utilizing an industrial research and development career path.

A concentration is required for the degree. The common required courses for the degree under all plans and concentrations are listed below. All details must be discussed with a Graduate Advisor each semester.

Required Courses

		Credit Hours
	Core Courses
ECE/PHYS *463	Advanced Optics I	3
(ECE 555  -and-  ECE 561)  -or-  PHYS 511	Foundations of Engineering Electromagnetics  Engineering Electrodynamics  Electrodynamics	3  3  -or-  3
PHYS *476L  -or-  PHYS *477L	Experimental Techniques of Optics  Experimental Techniques of Optics	3
	Subtotal	9-12
	Concentrations:
	Entrepreneurship and Technology Management
	For information and requirements, see the School of Engineering section of this Catalog.
	Subtotal	30-31
	Imaging Science
ECE 533	Digital Image Processing	3
ECE 541	Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes	3
	Subtotal	6
	Optical Science
ECE/PHYS *464	Laser Physics I	3
ECE/PHYS 554	Advanced Optics II	3
	Subtotal	6
	Photonics
ECE *471	Materials and Devices II	3
ECE 570	Optoelectronic Semiconductor Materials and Devices	3
ECE 572	Semiconductor Physics	3
	Subtotal	9

More information, including possible choices of elective courses, is available at the Optical Science and Engineering program Web site.

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Doctor of Philosophy in Optical Science and Engineering

Current research areas: Ultrafast optics and photonics, laser physics and engineering, optical imaging, quantum optics, optoelectronic devices, fiber lasers and amplifiers, optical communication, optical materials, optical lithography, nonlinear optics, integrated optics, quantum computing, bio-optics, nano-photonics, and laser cooling.

An extensive selection of optics courses is available to the student considering graduate studies in Optical Science and Engineering. Considerable interaction occurs with the Center for High Technology Materials and the optical research groups at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory and other organizations in Albuquerque. These facilities offer extensive opportunities for research work toward both the M.S. and the Ph.D. degrees.

General guidelines for completion of the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Optical Science and Engineering are set forth in the Graduate Program section of this Catalog. The program requires a minimum of 52 credit hours of graduate work, exclusive of dissertation. Important: the total credit hours taken from Required courses and Elective courses should be 30 credit hours. A concentration is required for the degree.

Required Courses

Core courses common to all concentrations:

• ECE/PHYS *463 Advanced Optics I
• PHYS *476L Experimental Techniques of Optics -or- PHYS *477L Experimental Techniques of Optics
• PHYS 511 Electrodynamics -or- (ECE 555 Foundations of Engineering Electromagnetics -and- ECE 561 Engineering Electrodynamics)

Concentrations

Plus the following core courses depending on concentration:

• Imaging Science
ECE 510 Medical Imaging -or- ECE 633 Adv T: Image Processing
ECE 541 Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes
ECE/PHYS 554 Advanced Optics II
6 credit hours from: ECE 500 Theory of Linear Systems, ECE 533 Digital Image Processing, ECE 539 Digital Signal Processing

• Optical Science
ECE/PHYS *464 Laser Physics I
ECE/PHYS 554 Advanced Optics II
PHYS *466 Methods of Theoretical Physics I -or- MATH *466 Mathematical Methods in Science and Engineering
PHYS 521 Graduate Quantum Mechanics I
PHYS 568 Nonlinear Optics
3 credit hours of seminar, including one Optics seminar

• Photonics
ECE *471 Materials and Devices
ECE 570 Optoelectronic Semiconductor Materials and Devices
ECE 572 Semiconductor Physics
3 credit hours of seminar, including one Optics seminar

• Quantum Optics
30 credit hours of core classes consisting of a mixture of required and option-based electives as described below:

Required courses (18 credit hours)
ECE/PHYS *464 Laser Physics I
ECE 561 Engineering Electrodynamics -or- PHYS 511 Electrodynamics
PHYS 521 Graduate Quantum Mechanics I
PHYS 522 Graduate Quantum Mechanics II
PHYS 566 Quantum Optics

Concentration-specific required courses (9 credit hours)
Choice of three courses from the following list:
ECE/PHYS *463 Advanced Optics I
ECE *471 Materials and Devices II
ECE 533 Digital image Processing
ECE 541 Probability Theory Stochastic Processes
ECE/PHYS 554 Advanced Optics II
ECE 570 Optoelectronic Semiconductor Materials and Devices
ECE 572 Semiconductor Physics
PHYS *476L Experimental Techniques of Optics -or- PHYS *477L Experimental Techniques of Optics
PHYS 568 Nonlinear Optics
PHYS 571 Quantum Computation
PHYS 572 Quantum Information Theory
PHYS 581 Adv T: Quantum Optics II

Option-based electives (3 credit hours)
3 credit hours from the list of OSE approved courses as shown below:
BIOL 547 Advanced Techniques in Light Microscopy
ECE/PHYS *463 Advanced Optics I
ECE *475 Introduction to Electro-Optics and Opto-Electronics
ECE 500 Theory of Linear Systems
ECE 506 Optimization Theory
ECE 510 Medical Imaging
ECE 512 Advanced Image Synthesis
ECE 516 Computer Vision
ECE 517 Pattern Recognition
ECE 533 Digital Image Processing
ECE 539 Digital Signal Processing
ECE 541 Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes
ECE 547 Neural Networks
ECE 549 Information Theory and Coding
ECE 554/PHYS 554 Advanced Optics II
ECE 555 Foundations of engineering Electromagnetics
ECE 563 Computational Methods for Electromagnetics
ECE 564 Guided Wave Optics
ECE 565 Optical Communication Components and Subsystems
ECE 570 Optoelectronic Semiconductor Materials and Devices
ECE 572 Semiconductor Physics -or- PHYS 529: Condensed Matter I
ECE 574L Microelectronics Processing
ECE 577 Fundamentals of Semiconductor LEDs and Lasers
ECE 581 Colloidal Nanocrystals for Biomedical Applications
ECE 595 ST: Electrical and Computer Engineering -or- PHYS 569 Adv T: Modern Optics
ECE 595 ST: Microwave Photonics
ECE 595 ST: Detectors and Hardware
ECE 642 Detection and Estimation Theory
MATH **412 Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos
MATH *466 Mathematical Methods in Science and Engineering -or- PHYS *466: Methods of Theoretical Physics I
NSMS 518 Synthesis of Nanostructures
PHYS *464: Laser Physics I
PHYS *476L Experimental Techniques of Optics -or- PHYS *477L Experimental Techniques of Optics
PHYS 531 Atomic and Molecular Structure
PHYS 568 Nonlinear Optics
PHYS 571 Quantum Computation
PHYS 572 Quantum Information Theory
PHYS 581 Adv T: Quantum Optics II

Free electives (22 credit hours)
22 credit hours of free electives (500-level courses and above, including problems courses).

Dissertation hours (18 credit hours)
ECE 699 Dissertation -or- PHYS 699: Dissertation

General Electives

More information, including possible choices of elective courses, is available at the Optical Science and Engineering program Web site.

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