Hands-On Quantum Mechanics and Optical Spectroscopy

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An experiment designed to connect quantum mechanical textbook examples and concepts in optics with technologically important materials is being undertaken in the upper-level undergraduate student laboratories. Using a versatile spectrometer system and an efficient detector, students are performing photoluminescence (optical emission), optical reflectivity, and Raman (inelastic scattering of light) measurements on novel materials. Samples chosen for this laboratory experiment are semiconductor quantum well heterostructures (QWH), which are used in lasers and modern electronic devices; and C60, which has potential applicatimns in several industries. The experiment on QWH is unique in connecting a real physical system with the one-dimensional square well potentials treated in elementary Quantum Mechanics or Modern Physics courses. Similarly, the experiment on C60 serves to illustrate rudiments of optical spectroscopy and its use in the characterization of new materials. These experiments modernize the undergraduate curriculum and give the students a feel for frontier research in new materials. The equipment has a long life span and is adaptable for experiments on a wide variety of materials. The project includes the use of the new equipment in two undergraduate laboratory courses and also for undergraduate student research projects. Details of the experiments and student experiences will be shared with interested colleagues at other institutions through workshops, presentations at meetings and publications in journals - American Journal of Physics and others.