Suggested preparation: Electromagnetism, calculus and basic wave physics.
About this course
Study optics through the propagation, interference and diffraction of light. The recordings connect wave models with imaging systems and examples from photonic structures.
Topics and lesson examples
- Design of a Cooke Triplet
- Holographic Particle Image Velocimetry
- Holographic Tomography
- Wigner Distribution Function and Integral Imaging
- Accuracy Requirements in the Mechanical Assessment of Photonic Crystals
Course at a glance
| Provider | MIT |
|---|---|
| Platform | YouTube · MIT OpenCourseWare |
| Access | Free Video |
| Level | Intermediate — WikiFree study-level assessment |
| Language | English |
| Available lessons | 29 |
| Video duration | 32h 57m · self-paced |
| Details checked | 10 October 2026 |
Preparation and study approach
Suggested preparation: Electromagnetism, calculus and basic wave physics.
Follow the available videos in sequence, pausing to summarize the main argument or reconstruct a worked example. Keep a short list of assumptions, unfamiliar terms and questions to revisit. Additional reading, problem solving and practice will take time beyond the listed video duration.
Using this video classroom
Select a lesson from the list, or search for a topic. Previous and Next move through the sequence. You can mark lessons complete; progress is stored in this browser without a WikiFree account.
Free access and course scope
The public MIT OpenCourseWare videos in this classroom are free to watch. This listing provides the available playlist recordings, which may include selected lectures, recitations, demonstrations or supporting discussions rather than every component of the original campus course. Textbooks, equipment, software licenses, supervised labs, graded assignments and instructor feedback are not supplied by WikiFree. No purchase is required to watch the videos or use the note-based study approach above.
WikiFree independently organizes these resources for self-paced study. Watching does not award an MIT certificate, academic credit or admission to MIT.
Video provider and credit: MIT OpenCourseWare on YouTube. WikiFree titles, descriptions and cover artwork are independently prepared.
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- Compare another approachFree MIT Course: Lasers and Optics through Laboratory Demonstrations
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Intermediate
Compare course focus, level and study time
| Course | Level | Focus | Study time |
|---|---|---|---|
| This course — Free MIT Course: Optics: Imaging, Diffraction and Wave Propagation | Intermediate | Design of a Cooke Triplet · Holographic Particle Image Velocimetry · Holographic Tomography | 32h 57m of video; practice time is additional |
| Free MIT Course: Lasers and Optics through Laboratory Demonstrations | Intermediate | Overview of Demonstrations in Lasers and Optics · Optics: Destructive interference - Where does the light go? · Optics: Fraunhofer diffraction - multiple slits | 7h 2m of video; practice time is additional |
| Free MIT Course: Physics of Vibrations and Waves | Intermediate | 8.03SC Physics III: Vibrations and Waves Introduction · 8. Translation Symmetry · 17. Polarization, Polarizer | 30h 45m of video; practice time is additional |
| Free Yale Course: Fundamentals of Physics II | Intermediate | Electromagnetism · Circuit reasoning · Optics | 29h 48m of video; practice time is additional |
Provider: MIT. Videos play from the MIT OpenCourseWare channel on YouTube.
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