Detection of Light - Spring Semester 2016

Location & Time

The lectures take place in room HL 414 in the Huygens building on Fridays from 13:45 - 15:30 hr (unless otherwise noted - see schedule below).

Lecturer

The lecturer of 'Part A' is Prof. Dr. Bernhard Brandl, office: #535 (Oort building), phone (071) 527-5830, email. 'Part B' will be taught by a number of expert guest lecturers (see below). The teaching assistant is Michael Wilby, office: #570, email. Course level is 500. The course language is English.

Course concept and content

Detectors are the crucial link between the astronomical target and the observer. As astronomers are aiming at fainter and fainter objects the quality and calibration of the detector systems have become increasingly important. The main goal of this course is to provide an overview of the various physical principles and techniques to detect electromagnetic radiation, from the UV to the sub-millimeter.

The course is split in two parts:

'Part A' (3 ECTS) is aimed at the observational astronomer and provides an overview of common  detector technologies and their operation.  Course topics are intrinsic and extrinsic photo-conductors, photodiodes and other junction-based detectors, detector arrays, bolometers, coherent receivers, and submillimeter- and millimeterwave heterodyne receivers. The course will not only provide the physical background of the various detector technologies but also cover practical aspects, which are of general interest to the observer, such as cosmetic quality and detector artifacts, linearity and dynamical range, spectral response and bandwidth, quantum efficiency and noise.

 'Part B' (3 ECTS) can be followed by all astronomy MSc students, but is mainly aimed at students of 'Astronomy & Instrumentation' or physics.  It consists of talks on specific topics, given by renowned guest lecturers. 

Students may follow 'Part A' only, but students who want to get credits for 'Part B' must have followed 'Part A' before.

Credits and grading

'Part A' and 'Part B' count each 3 ECTS (3+3).

The grade for 'Part A' is based to 80% on the written exam and 20% on the mandatory homeworks. The exam is on 22 April, 13:45 - 16:45 hr. It is a written, "closed book" exam. Pocket calculators are required at the exam.

The credits for 'Part B' require the attendance of (most of) the lectures of 'Part B' as well as a written report based on a literature study.  The topic of the latter is closely related to one of the guest lectures.  The report has to be written within 3 weeks, and the ultimate deadline for all reports is 15 July 2016.  The grading will follow the O/V/G scheme.

Literature

The course will be heavily based on the book Detection of Light - from the Ultraviolet to the Submillimeter, by George Rieke, 2nd Edition, 2003, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-01710-6. It is recommended that students get their own copy of this book.

Recommended for further reading are:

• Introduction to Solid State Physics (8th Edition) by Charles Kittel;
• Electronic Imaging in Astronomy: Detectors and Instrumentation (2nd Edition) by Ian S. McLean;
• Observational Astrophysics by P. Lena, Francoise Lebrun & Francois Mignard;

Schedule 'Part A'

Program 'Part B'

Literature/Research Projects