Optics and Nanostructures

Course characteristics

The master´s degree course in Optics and Nanostructures is multi-disciplinary and is oriented towards advanced topics of optics, solid state physics, and physics of nanostructures and nanotechnologies, and is further based on selected lectures on e.g. laser technologies and plasma. It also develops detailed physics-oriented computer skills. The students are instructed how to apply their skills in modern information technology to natural sciences and engineering. The course subjects give the students a knowledge of the field and a significant insight into its state-of-the-art.

Besides a general theoretical education, students can also gain specific experience and practical skills in experimentally-oriented training (from advanced optical practicals and excursions to various specialised laboratories, to their own experimental research). At the same time, students familiarise themselves with modern trends in the given field. The student projects assigned provide further orientation in terms of the given topic and usually result in original findings publishable in scientific journals, or in the design and development of new engineering technologies. Based on the topic of the project, the students also choose their elective lectures.

Graduate's profile

Knowledge: The graduates will have acquired a broad knowledge of advanced disciplines of applied physics in the theory and applied science of optics, photonics, nanostructures, and nanotechnologies. It is extended during work on research projects and the master’s thesis.

Skills: The graduate can creatively analyse problems and skilfully use the methods and techniques of the courses studied to solve engineering, research, and scientific problems in practice. Moreover, in addition to the specialised skills, students are trained to acquire skills such as adaptability, a quick grasp of unfamiliar interdisciplinary problems, problem analysis, and subsequent computer processing, and synthesis. Developing good writing skills is a matter of course as is training to develop a sense of responsibility at work and in decision making.

Competency: Proficient use of highly analytical methods and a systematic approach to tasks as well as a mastery of modern information technologies make the graduates sought after for positions in industry, research, the private sector, and finance. They can find employment in the institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences, in research and development centres of large companies, or other research centres (like e.g. ELI and HiLASE, etc.) involved in research, development, and applications of optics, applied photonics, telecommunications, nanostructures, and nanotechnologies.

State final examination

• Electrodynamics - compulsory subject
• Optics - compulsory subject
• Physics of nanostructures - elective subject
• Non-linear optics - elective subject
• Quantum electronics and optics - elective subject
• Optical signals - elective subject
• Laser technology - elective subject
• Plasma physics - elective subject