Laboratory for Experiments in Optics
(LEO)
Department of Physics and
Astronomy
California
State University Northridge
Manuals and
Reference Matetral |
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LabView in three hours in six hours |
Math Lab |
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"First of all we
assert that the universe is spherical; partly because this form being a
complete whole, needing no joints, is the most perfect of all; partly because
it constitutes the most spacious form, which is thus best suited to contain and
retain all things; or also because all discrete parts of the world, I mean the
sun, the moon and the planets, appear as spheres; or because all things tend to
assume the spherical shape, a fact which appears in a drop of water and in
other fluid bodies when they seek of their own accord to limit themselves.
Therefore no one will doubt that this form is natural for the heavenly bodies.
Nicholas Copernicus
in "Concerning the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies"
A Treasure of Science, Ed. Harlow Shapley, 1958
This statement of Copernicus, while developing the idea that earth moves around
the Sun, gives a feel for what is involved in the experimental Science. Careful recording of data, observation of
symmetry in them and deducing the conclusions with logic are all parts of
experimental physics. Optics is one of the oldest branches of physics that
deals with the study of the properties of light. Light is an electromagnetic
wave with well defined plane of vibration. In this course, with a set of
experiments you will learn how the information is extracted from each of these
properties of light. There are four basic experiments that deal with
spectroscopy, interferometry, polarimetry and distortion of wavefront of
electromagnetic waves.
Experiments
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5. Fiber Optics
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6. Speed of Light
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1. Be alert and safety conscious.
2. Keep the laser beam parallel to the table top and avoid
placing your head (eye) in that plane.
3. No eating, drinking, or tobacco products in the lab.
4. Do not keep your bags or other
items on the optical table.
5. Confine your movement around
your experimental set up.
6. All components need to be laid down or fastened to the
optical table in order to prevent accidental tipping and damage.
7. Use extreme care to avoid finger prints on any optical
component.
8. Finger cots must be worn if you need to touch an optical
component (lens, neutral density filter, prism, etc.)
9. Take signature on your
laboratory notebook in the end of the class.
Background
Material: Will be added later.
References:
Principles of Optics by Born and Wolf
Problems
and Simulations:
12, 13, 15, 17, 24, 38, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72.
Simulation will be found in your lab computer.
Schedule:
Week 1: Day: 1. (Pre Lab) Solve problems from
Haliday and Resnick. Set up the procedure. Make the ray diagram of the
experimental setup.
Day: 2. Calibration of the spectrograph. Take the spectrum of different
spectral lamps. Determine the dispersion and resolution of spectrograph.
Week 2: Day: 1. Take the spectrum of Laser sources with varying slit width. Plot the width of observed spectral profile Vs slit width. Determine the optimum slit width.
Day: 2. Take the spectrum of Laser sources with varying slit
width. Plot the width of observed spectral profile Vs slit width. Determine the
optimum slit width.
Week 3: Day: 1. Determine the band pass of a Fabry-Perot etalon. Write the
theory of Fabry-Perot etalon estimate its finesse.
1)
Take the spectrum of a white light source.
2)
Take the spectrum of a white light source through the FP etalon.
Day: 2. 3) Divide (2) by (1).
4)
Compute the Airy's Function and fit it with the observed profile.
Week 4: Day: 1. Study Zeeman effect in Na light source.
Day: 2.Perform the
computer based experiments and solve the simulated problems. Prepare the final
report and a poster.
Background
Material: Will be added later.
References:
Principles of Optics by Born and Wolf
Problems
and Simulations:
61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78.
Simulation will be found in your lab computer.
Schdule:
Week 1: Day: 1. (Pre Lab) Solve problems from Haliday
and Resnick. Set up the procedure. Make the ray diagram of the experimental
setup.
Day: 2. Record
the finge system at slightly different orientation of the mirrors. Determine
the order of interference.
Week 2: Day: 1. Determine the wevelength for LASERS Red and Green.
Day: 3. Determine the coherent length using fringe visibility.
Week 3: Day: 1. Determine the thickness of a glass plate.
Week 4: Day: 2. Perform the computer based experiments and solve
the simulated problems. Prepare the final report and a poster.
Background
Material: Will be added later.
References: Principles of Optics by Born and Wolf, Polarized light - Fundamentals and Applications by Edward Collett.
Problems
and Simulations:
Questions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12.
Exercises and Problems: 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63.
Simulation will be found in your lab computer.
Schdule:
Week 1: Day: 1. (Pre Lab) Solve problems from Haliday
and Resnick. Set up the procedure. Make the ray diagram of the experimental
setup.
Day: 2.
Determine the Stokes Parameters of a polarizer with classical polarizer method.
Week 2: Day: 1. Measure the Stokes Parameters of a source using a circular polarizer.
Day: 3. Measure the Stokes Parameters of
a source using a circular polarizer using null-intensity method.
Week 3: Day: 1. Measure the Stokes Parameters of a source using a
circular polarizer using
Week 4: Day: 2. perform the computer based experiments and solve
the simulated problems. Prepare the final report and a poster.
Wave-Front Sensing and Correction
Background
Material:
References:
Problems
and Simulations:
Schdule:
Week 1: Day: 1. (Pre Lab) Derive the Zernik
Polinomials. Solve problems from Haliday and Resnick. Set up the procedure.
Make the ray diagram of the experimental setup.
Day: 2. Record
the tilted and untilted wavefronts using a plane glass plate. Determine the tilt
of the wavefront and express in terms of Zirnik polynomials.
Week 2: Day: 1. Record the tilted and untilted wavefronts using a distorted glassplate. Determine the tilt of the wavefront and express in terms of Zirnik polynomials.
Day: 3. Record the tilted and untilted wavefronts using a large
inperfect lens. Determine the tilt of the wavefront and express in terms of
Zirnik polynomials.
Week 3: Day: 1. Record the tilted and untilted wavefronts using a
large inperfect lens. Determine the tilt of the wavefront and express in terms
of Zirnik polynomials.
Week 4: Day: 2. Perform the computer based experiments and solve
the simulated problems. Prepare the final report and a poster.