Advanced Laboratory in Modern Optics

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This project is facilitating the acquisition of equipment needed to develop seven modern optics experiments in the general areas of fiber optics, holography, and interferometry for the advanced laboratory in optics taught by the Physics Department. Titles of the experiments being developed in this project are: (1) Introduction to Fiber Optics, (2) The Measurement of Birefringence in a Low-Birefrinqent Fiber, (3) Two Beam Fiber Optic Interferometry, (4) Multi-Beam Fiber Optic Interferometry, (5) Frequency Modulation of a Laser Diode, (6) Making Holograms, and (7) Hetrodyne Interferometry. These seven modern optics experiments are combined with three experiments currently available to create an advanced physics laboratory which integrates classical and modern optics in a systematic way. The major equipment items purchased are: a 25 mw HeNe laser that is used to make quality holograms and do holographic interferometry; a high frequency spectrum analyzer to analyze the hetrodyne output of both classical and fiber interferometers; a confocal Fabry-Perot to be used as a high resolution optical analyzer for frequency analysis of diode lasers; and a floating optical table on which to mount the holography experiments.NSF grant funds are being matched with funds from non-federal sources.