OPTICS LABORATORY
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
For a better understanding of the topics covered in the course, it is required that the students have a basic knowledge of Optics and Statistics.
At the end of the experimental activity, students will be required to produce a written report on their work. The report has to contain an introduction, in which the existing literature about the treated topic must be summarized, details about the experiment and the performed analysis. As a second step, the students are invited to prepare an oral presentation of the main results. During the oral examination, the teacher may also ask some questions about the theory on which the experimental activity is based.
The main aims of the Course are:
- Knowledge and understanding of specific research topics in the context of Optics (Descriptor of Dublin: Knowledge and understanding);
- Study of the existing literature (Descriptor of Dublin: Knowledge and understanding);
- Ability to develop, with the help of the teacher, a novel strategy to approach research problems (Descriptor of Dublin: Applying knowledge and understanding);
- Ability to set-up an experimental scheme and/or to process the experimental data (Descriptor of Dublin: Learning skills);
- Ability to make a report of the experimental activity in terms of a written text and of an oral presentation (Descriptor of Dublin: Communication skills).
The Department of Science and High Technology offers four Laboratories devoted to researches in the field of Optics. Students can choose among the following opportunities:
- Quantum Optics Laboratory
- Ultrafast Nonlinear Optics Laboratory
- Light Scattering Laboratory
- Biomolecular Spectroscopy Laboratory
The topics that will be considered in each Laboratory are fully described below.
Quantum Optics Laboratory
Responsible for the activity: Dr. Alessia Allevi
- Generation and manipulation of optical states by using a picosecond laser source
- Study of the statistical properties of the optical states
- Use of different classes of photon-number-resolving detectors for the characterization of mesoscopic optical states
- Production of nonlinear optical processes for the generation of new states of light
- Characterization of nonclassical optical states through different nonclassicality criteria
Ultrafast Nonlinear Optics Laboratory
Responsibles for the activity: Prof. Paolo Di Trapani and Dr. Ottavia Jedrkiewicz
- Use of pulsed laser beams (from femtosecond up to picosecond regime) for the microfabrication by means of Bessel beams of transparent materials
- Alignment techniques of the laser beam by means of mirrors, lenses, telescopic systems
- Bessel beam generation through axicons and diagnostics set-up by imaging techniques
- Microfabrication set-up alignment
- Cutting and drilling techniques of the material – tests on different types of transparent dielectrics in different experimental conditions (varying energy, beam position offset with respect to the glass sample, laser pulse duration)
- Diagnostics of the samples by means of optical microscopes and SEM techniques.
Light Scattering Laboratory
Responsible for the activity: Prof. Fabio Ferri
- Simple experiments of Static and Dynamic Light Scattering (SLS, DLS) on calibrated spherical samples
- Analysis of SLS and DLS data for particle sizing
- Growth kinetics of fractal colloidal aggregation by using SLS and DLS
- Development of non-standard Scattering techniques for particle sizing.
Biomolecular Spectroscopy Laboratory
Responsibles for the activity: Dr. Luca Nardo and Dr. Maria Bondani
- Theoretical introduction to:
a) light-matter interactions focused on the investigation of molecular optical transitions, particularly fluorescence spectroscopy;
b) the chemical bond and its importance for the regulation and control of metabolism
- Characterization of the chemical bond between DNA and an anticancer drug by application of a panel of advanced spectroscopic techniques, involving:
a) Preparation of solutions
b) UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy measurements
c) Measurements of the drug fluorescence decay time distribution by time-correlated single-photon counting
d) Measurements of the temporal correlations of the fluorescence signal produced by single drug molecules.
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According to the chosen Laboratory, the responsible for the activity will give the students indications about useful books and notes.
Each module is divided into two parts, an introductory part (roughly 10 hours) aimed at placing the topic that will be treated in the chosen Laboratory within the proper context, and an experimental part (56 hours), in which the students will actively operate in the Laboratory. In particular, they will be asked to build (or modify) optical setups, to perform measurements and to analyze the pertaining experimental data.
Students are invited to directly contact the responsible for the Laboratory they prefer by e-mail.
The addresses are the following:
- Quantum Optics Laboratory: alessia.allevi@uninsubria.it (Dr. Allevi)
- Ultrafast Nonlinear Optics Laboratory: paolo.ditrapani@coelux.com (Prof. Di Trapani) and ottavia.jedrkiewicz@uninsubria.it (Dr. Jedrkiewicz)
- Light scattering Laboratory: fabio.ferri@uninsubria.it (Prof. Ferri)
- Biomolecular Spectroscopy Laboratory: luca.nardo@uninsubria.it (Dr. Nardo) and maria.bondani@uninsubria.it (Dr. Bondani).