Syllabus

1)Revision of electromagnetic theory: Fields and potentials (Coulomb’s law, Gauss’ theorem, Poisson’s and Laplace’s   equations, Ohm’s law, Kirchhoff’s law, Ampere’s law, Gauss’s magnetic field law, Lorentz field     equation, Faraday’s   law, Maxwell’s modification of Ampere’s law), fields in vacuum and in matter. Maxwell’s equations.

2)Field interaction with matter: dipole moments and polarization. Field and potential due to electric dipoles and   multipole fields. Equation of continuity, relaxation time of charges in dielectrics and metals.

3)Physics of dielectrics: dielectric polarization, polar and non-polar dielectrics, frequency dependence of   dielectric constant (dispersion relation), dielectric (capacitance, admittance) spectroscopy, Debye relaxation,    Maxwell-Wagner Instability.

4)Classical field theory: Wave equation (from Maxwell’s field equations), wave propagation through vacuum and  medium, Poynting’s vector, impedance of free space, wave equation in a lossy medium with finite conductance, wave    propagation in a lossy medium- attenuation and phase shifts. Helmholtz equations, boundary conditions, TEM, TE and   TM waves.

5)Introduction to Plasmonics: dielectric function of the free electron gas: plasma frequency. Electromagnetic wave   interaction with metals: dielectric function of metals. Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPP), SPP at single interface   and multilayer interfaces, dispersion relations. Excitation of SPP at planar interfaces, prism coupling:   Kretschmann method, grating coupling, near field excitation, multi-layer systems: metal-insulator-metal systems,   insulator-metal-insulator systems and their dispersion relations. Imaging SPP: Plasmon lifetime, coupling between   localized plasmons, Scanning Near-field Optical Microscope (SNOM). Applications of Plasmonics: Plasmon waveguides,   Brag reflectors, Photonic bandgap structures, chemical and biological sensors, Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering,    Optoelectronic devices.