Physics of Light and Optics
by Justin Peatross, Michael Ware · Brigham Young University
Free advanced-undergraduate optics textbook built from Maxwell's equations: wave propagation, Fresnel coefficients, polarization, interference, coherence, diffraction, Fourier optics, and lasers. The best free alternative to Hecht for physics students. Available as a free PDF, with companion lab videos and animations.
More resources on Optics & Photonics
Ultrafast Optics (MIT 6.977)
Generation, propagation and measurement of ultrashort laser pulses: dispersion, solitons and pulse compression, Q-switching and mode-locking, autocorrelation, FROG and SPIDER, amplifiers and parametric oscillators, and applications such as pump-probe spectroscopy and frequency metrology. Includes 13 lecture note files, problem sets and an open textbook.
University Physics Volume 3, Unit 1: Optics
Free, peer-reviewed introductory chapters on the nature of light, reflection and refraction, geometric optics and image formation, interference, diffraction and polarization. Written at the calculus-based first-year university level, with worked examples and exercises. The beginner on-ramp: first-year optics needed before MIT 2.71 or Hecht.
RP Photonics Encyclopedia
The best free lookup reference for applied photonics terms and components; complements the textbooks. Free online technical encyclopedia with cross-linked articles on lasers, fibre optics, nonlinear optics, optical components and photonics measurement. Entries explain the physics, give equations and practical engineering considerations, and cite the literature.
Introduction to Fourier Optics (4th Edition)
Treats diffraction, coherent and incoherent imaging, optical transfer functions, holography, spatial light modulators, and optical information processing using linear systems and Fourier analysis. It is the standard graduate text for imaging systems. The definitive treatment of the imaging-systems part of the topic, and the usual next step after Hecht.
Fundamentals of Photonics (3rd Edition)
Two-volume graduate reference spanning ray, wave, beam, Fourier and electromagnetic optics, then resonators, lasers, fibre optics, photodetectors, nonlinear optics, ultrafast optics and optical communications. Covers the photonics half of the topic (lasers, fibre, detectors) that Hecht treats lightly. The 3rd edition was published by Wiley in 2019.
Optics (5th Edition)
The default first optics text, more readable than Born & Wolf. Standard undergraduate optics text covering wave motion, electromagnetic theory of light, geometrical optics, polarization, interference, diffraction, Fourier optics, coherence and an introduction to lasers and quantum optics, with many worked examples.