1. Internal Information
  2. Chemistry and Physics
  3. Physics Labs and Research

Physics Labs and Research

The faculty of Simpson College consider student research to be a vitally important component of a complete undergraduate experience.

Research at Simpson College may take several forms.

  • Short term projects. Short term projects (normally completed within one semester) might involve constructing some instrument or apparatus or a quantum mechanical calculation. Examples include: building an external cavity diode laser system, measuring lifetimes of laser-induced excited states in rubidium vapor, calculating collision rates in a bi-atomic gas.
  • Long term projects. Students may also get involved with faculty in deeper ongoing research over several semesters. Currently our physics faculty are doing research in the areas of Atomic and Laser Spectroscopy (D. Olsgaard) and Computational Nano-science and Self-assembly (A. Santos).
  • Research Experiences for Undergraduates.  Many of our students apply for summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) where they work alongside professors and graduate students at large universities or national labs. These programs typically include room and board and a $4000-5000 stipend.

Facilities–Physics Laboratories

The physics and engineering program is housed in the Carver Science Building. Carver Science is also home to the Biology, Math, and Computer Science Departments. All physics labs are in the lower level of Carver Science.

This, our largest lab, supports all introductory laboratory sections. The lab is equipped with a computer laptop cart with wireless printer, Vernier instrumentation supporting experiments in motion, force, energy, momentum, waves, optics, electricity and magnetism.

This lab supports our Experimental Physics I and II courses. It is equipped with apparatus for performing well known experiments such as measuring electron charge to mass (e/m), x-ray diffraction, photoelectric effect, blackbody radiation, magnetic torque, and atomic spectroscopy. Other instrumentation includes a large electromagnet, various power supplies, lock-in amplifiers, various telescopes, a fiber optic spectrometer, and more.

This lab supports our Introduction to Laser Science course as well as some small research projects. The main instrument in this lab is the 1.2 MW pulsed nitrogen laser. This laser produces ultraviolet laser pulses less than one-billionth of a second in duration (~1 nanosecond). The output of this laser is almost exclusively used to “pump” (or power) a student built tunable dye-laser. The dye-laser pulses may be tuned to almost any visible color. Other instrumentation in the lab includes a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer, different colored helium neon lasers, a large optical table for projects, various light detectors, a wide range of optical components for experiments in atomic spectroscopy, interferometry, fiber optics, and laser physics.

Half of this lab is currently being used by the physics club to work on various projects such as the solar panel project. The other half is dedicated to atomic and laser spectroscopy research. To learn more about the research being done here please see Professor Olsgaard’s research page. Students involved in projects or research have personal access to the lab.