Basic concepts of the main experimental techniques for atomic, liquid and condensed matter spectroscopy: laser sources, detectors and experimental setups
Principles of lasers, by O.Svelto
Dynamic light scattering B. J. Berne, R. Pecora, Dover Publications, Inc., Mineola, New York, 2000.
Semiconductor Optics, by C.F.Klingshirn.
Ultrashort laser pulse phenomena, by J-C.Diels and W.Rudolph.
Principles of Optics, by M. Born and E. Wolf, Pergamon Press.
Learning Objectives
Experimental techniques in the field of optical spectroscopy for the measurement of different physical quantities which are relevant for the investigation of atoms, liquids and solids.
Prerequisites
Physics of matter basics ( atoms, molecules, liquids, solids)
Mandatory courses of Physics of Matter
Teaching Methods
Plenary lectures and laboratory training
Further information
Students will be asked to prepare long reports ( 10-20 pages) on the laboratory activity
Office hours: By appointment from Monday to Friday
Website: Moodle platform
http://e-l.unifi.it
Type of Assessment
Oral exam with discussion of the laboratory reports
Course program
Monochromator and Fabry-Perot spectrometers, optical resonators. Gaussian beams. Optics, filters, polarizing optics. Lock-in amplifier. Super-heterodyne spectrum analyzer. Photodiodes and electronics for cw detection. Saturation spectroscopy. Operation and use of semiconductor lasers. Fluctuations and temporal correlation functions. Scattering vector. Homodyne and heterodyne detection. Digital correlator. Thermal and mechanical stabilization. General principles of optical spectroscopy of semiconductors: relaxation processes and typical scale times. Frequency- and time-resolved spectroscopy. Detectors and detection techniques for ultra-fast spectroscopy. Pulsed sources. General principles of Q-switching and mode-locking. Propagation of light pulses in linear and non-linear media. Experiments: a) Measurement of diffusion coefficient and hydrodynamic radius of nanoparticles. b) Saturation spectroscopy of Rb and measurement of hyperfine structure. c) Spectral characterization of a semiconductor laser. d) Auto-correlation measurement of a picosecond pulse. e) Measurements of luminescence and luminescence excitation in nanostructures. f) Measurement of the average intensity of scattered light as a function of the angle.