PHGN-480 Fall-2015
Contents |
Course Information
Professor: Dr. Charles Durfee
Office: Meyer Hall 330
Meeting Times:
class: M W 11:00-11:50 AM Berthoud Hall 205
lab: Th 9-11:50, Meyer Hall 263
Announcements
29 September 2015: I posted the neon spectral data. As I posted it, I realized the file format will need to be converted to a tab delimited or .csv so other programs like Excel or mathematica can read it. Could someone read the .prospec file into the spectrometer software and do the conversion? When you do, email it to me and I'll post it.
Also notice the file that is there that describes the different transitions that participate in the neon inversion and the decay out of the laser termination state. This will help you interpret the changes in the emission spectrum from not lasing to lasing.
28 September 2015: As discussed in class, homework 4 will be due Oct 7. I will re-post it with some additional questions to account for the second week. In the meantime, I've posted a pdf of the current homework that has the figure for problem 1.
I have the solutions for HW1 and 2 printed out. They are available in my office if you'd like to look or make a copy.
27 September 2015: Homework 4 is posted.
22 September 2015: Homework 3 hints and tips: On the last problem, you need a value for the saturation fluence. Use 0.85 J/cm2, which is the saturation fluence for Ti:sapphire. I put this in an updated copy of the homework assignment.
21 September 2015: Homework 3 hints and tips: Problem 3: For both parts a and b, the central frequency is 10^14 Hz. I had it listed just for part b. If you need a refractive index for this problem, you can take n = 1. One way to approach this problem is to first find the Einstein coefficient B21 first.
Problem 4: For this, it is helpful to work with equations in chapter 2 to get a connection between the spontaneous emission rate and the cross-section that is independent of the dipole moment.
14 September 2015: Homework 3 is posted. This is due in 1 1/2 weeks, but of course getting started earlier is better.
4 September 2015: Homework 2 is posted. The file is in Mathematica format, since most of the problems can be done in that program.
2 September 2015: Lecture notes for Wednesday are posted: see below. Later I will rearrange the files so they reflect what we actually get to in each class.
31 August 2015: Lecture notes for Monday are posted: see below. I re-posted the slides just after class, to fix a couple of typos and to add a couple of figures. We got up through slide 17 today, but we'll review a bit in the beginning of class on Wednesday. Read through the slides, work through the missing steps, and bring your questions to class on Wednesday.
26 August 2015: Lecture notes are updated, and the lab for Thursday is posted below.
If you have a Windows laptop, please bring it to the lab.
You can load the software for the power meter using this website:
This should work for any version of Windows.
The camera software is at this site:
This only works on Windows 7.
For later versions of Windows (at least 8), this driver should work. [1]
23 August 2015: Welcome to Laser Physics!
Office hours
Times: M12:30-3:00, W1:00-3:30
Let me know if you cannot make any of these office hours. I have monthly meetings on wednesdays, so the wednesday hours will occasionally shift to 1-4.
Look for me either in my office or in the advanced lab on the second floor.
Course Material
Syllabus and Reading List
Main text: O. Svelto, Principles of Lasers, 5th edition. It is available for purchase at the bookstore. There is also online access to the book from a campus/VPN connection:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/n72670/#section=672851&page=1
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
Homework Assignments and Midterm:
Grading policy:
Turn in homework on time for full credit. At the time we give homeworks back to you, solutions will be available in printed form in a binder that I'll keep, but you can make a copy.
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
Lab exercises:
This section is for 2015
Below here are the write-ups for 2013. There will be edits and changes for 2015.
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
Final project
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
Lecture Notes
While these notes are primarily to help me give my lectures, I'm posting them to help you fill in things you may have missed in class or to show the details of calculations we don't have time to work through. If you have any constructive input on how to make these more useful to read, let me know.
Note: if someone would like to make use of these slides, please acknowledge me. I would be happy to share the original .pptx files on request (email).
2015-09-21: fixed some typos that gave extra e^2 factors in the classically-calculated spontaneous emission rate. Notes are updated.
This list is from 2015.
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
The list of notes shown below is from 2013 - updated notes will be added throughout the semester.
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
Mathematica Demos
These aren't actually pdf's. Do a "save link as" to save these to your computer, then open with Mathematica.
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
Useful Links
Photonics.com article on history of lasers
APS article on Townes laser inventions
Javan and Bennet invent HeNE laser
Lab design information
Computer software for lab equipment
You can load the software for the power meter using this website:
This should work for any version of Windows.
The camera software is at this site:
This only works on Windows 7.
For later versions of Windows (at least 8), this driver should work. [2]
Thorlabs Fabry-Perot interferometer
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
Diode-pumped solid state laser
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
Thermistor calculator to convert measured resistance to temperature thermistor calculator
Compass 215M single longitudinal mode green laser
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
External cavity diode laser
These downloads require Adobe Acrobat Reader
|
Links
Wavelength Electronics: Spec page for diode power cable spec page
Siskiyou: Spec page for flexure mirror mount flexure mount page
Thorlabs: diode collimation tube collimation page