General Information

A practical laboratory course in basic and modern optics. Students use lasers and basic optical bench equipment to cover a wide range of topics from geometrical optics to interference, diffraction, and polarization. Each experimental setup is equipped with standard, off-the-shelf optics and opto-mechanical components to provide the students with hands-on experience in practical laboratory techniques currently employed in physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. Students are also introduced to digital imaging and image processing techniques. Five projects are prescribed and one last project is defined and designed by the student with help from the instructor. Each project will be documented in a professional laboratory notebook and a detailed scientific report. At the level of Optics by Hecht.

Prerequisites

PHYS 2214 or PHYS 2218.

Topics Covered

Workload

General Advice

Testimonials

Alternatives

There exist several lab alternatives to PHYS 3310, 3330, and 3360:

  • ASTRO 4410: Experimental Astronomy
  • AEP 3640: Modern Applied Physics Experimental Design
  • BEE 4500: Bioinstrumentiation

These labs allow students to undertake deeper dives into the fields of astronomy, applied physics, and biophysics respectively.

Past Offerings

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