Electro-Optics

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Page ID: 27678

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Electro-optics involving components, devices (e.g. Lasers, LEDs, waveguides etc.) and systems which operate by the propagation and interaction of light with various tailored materials. It is essentially the same as often described today as photonics and concerns the interaction between the electromagnetic (optical) and the electrical (electronic) states of materials. A key component in studying electro-optics is understanding the basics of electromagnetism. Texts in the physics library focusing on electromaganetism complement the texts in this area.

Thumbnail: Animation showing the electric field of an electric dipole. The dipole consists of two point electric charges of opposite polarity located close together. A transformation from a point-shaped dipole to a finite-size electric dipole is shown. (CC BY-SA 3.0; Geek3 via Wikipedia)