MATLAB Foundations for Diffractive Optics in Optical Engineering

Simulating light propagation and designing diffractive optical elements requires a solid grasp of both optical physics and computational programming. This text-based course bridges the gap, helping you master MATLAB to model complex optical phenomena. Through clear explanations and structured code walk-throughs, you will transition from understanding basic wave optics theory to writing your own simulation scripts. You will gain the confidence to analyze diffraction patterns, model phase masks, and optimize optical designs programmatically. What you'll learn: Understand the fundamental principles of wave optics, interference, and diffraction; Write clean, vectorized MATLAB scripts to simulate light propagation and wavefields; Model diffractive optical elements, including gratings, lenses, and phase apertures; Analyze numerical propagation methods such as the Angular Spectrum and Fresnel diffraction; Apply modern coding best practices to optimize simulation performance and memory usage; Interpret computational results to troubleshoot and refine optical system designs. The journey begins with key terminology, foundational wave optics concepts, and MATLAB basics before advancing to practical diffraction simulations. You will read through step-by-step code analyses and conceptual explanations designed to build your engineering intuition. This course is designed for beginner optical engineers, physics students, and researchers looking to start computational modeling. No prior programming or advanced optical design experience is required. Start your journey into computational optical engineering today.