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Experimental
Techniques
Course
Introduction
Course
Goals
-^
Bestow
upon
you
the
skills
you
will
use
in
practical
lab
settings
-^
Let’s
say
you
want
to
participate
in
physics
research
at
UCSD…
-^
You
will
be
asked:
what
can
you
do?
–^
program?
-^ electronics? -^ mechanical design? -^ optical design? -^ vacuum systems -^
What
will
your
answer
be?
Course
Content
-^
Mechanical
Design
–^
designing/machining parts, mechanical flexure
-^
Thermal
Design
–^
understanding heat flow
-^
Optics^ –
geometrical optics/raytracing
-^
Vacuum
and
Cryogenics
–^
requirements and techniques
-^
Analog
Electronics
–^
power supplies, op ‐amps, LEDs
-^
Computer
Interface
–^
serial, parallel ports;
D/A
converter, mag ‐swipe;
C
programming
Why
should
you
work
hard
in
this
class?
-^
You
can
get
shortchanged
by
going
to
a
research
university^ –
professors are primarily interested in research
-^
How
to
offset:
participate
in
research!
-^
But
there’s
a
barrier:
experience
-^
This
class
can
provide
some
of
this
needed
experience
–^
but only an initial exposure
-^ realistically, a one ‐quarter course can’t do it all -^
So
you
win
big
if
you
put
a
lot
in
-^
And
aside
from
research,
mastering
these
skills
makes
you
an
asset
to
employers
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My
Background
•^
Why is this relevant?
-^ it^ influences the type of exposure I^ can offer in this course -^ Amateur Astronomer (high school, mainly) -^ built telescope, did astrophotography -^ Co ‐op student at Naval Research Lab -^ worked on lasers, optics, interfacing equipment, telescopes -^ learned to machine, use a theodolite, many optical tools -^ Grad student in physics/infrared astronomy -^ built infrared spectrograph for Palomar 200 ‐inch telescope -^ tons of machining -^ some cryogenic exposure -^ Postdoc at
UW
-^ began building lunar laser ranging apparatus -^ diversity of optics, mechanics, electronics, thermal
Failure
mode
•^
The downside is that I’m trying to cram stuff
I^
learned over years into a single quarter
-^ For me, learning all this stuff was a lot of fun -^ no substitute for pursuing on your own -^ Within class structure, it is unlikely to be as fun for you as it was for me -^ hard to formulate a class without “cookbook” flavor -^ but this is partly up to the individual -^ and we’ll try to be careful about this -^ At least you’ll get an intro to things that you can learn more thoroughly on your own in the future -^ and hopefully the intro will make the eventual process easier
Invitation
to
Explore
-^
The
labs/projects
will
not
be
as
“cookbook”
as
many
you
have
experienced
–^
partly because real experimentation is not cookbook
-^ partly because the best learning comes when you write the recipe -^
Allow
your
natural
curiosity
to
guide
you
–^
if^ the lab inspires a question, think of ways to answer the question
-^ what could you measure?; how would you measure it? -^ little side ‐projects may be more valuable to your learning than the “main” task at hand -^ seek help on how to explore further -^
Please
offer
feedback:
we
want
you
to
learn!
Grading
Scheme
•^
What’s important is how much you learn: how much you understand; how much you can do
-^ this is more important than the grade (really!) -^ Grades based
on labs/projects:
-^ completion, success, demonstrated verbal understanding -^ some supporting calculations accompany each project -^ write ‐up describing the point, the critical concepts, data/results, and what you learned from the experience -^ less structured than cookbook lab reports -^ but clear communication is very important: do a good job! -^
in final exam (exam is academic requirement)
-^ So: must stay plugged in throughout course -^ late labs (up to a week) only count HALF credit
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