Physics Commons^™

Using An Atomic Molecular Optics Laboratory For Undergraduate Research And Mentoring Of Physics Students In Georgia, Matthew P. Dallas

Georgia College Student Research Events

Using an Atomic Molecular Optics Laboratory for Undergraduate Research and Mentoring of Physics Students in Georgia

An Atomic and Molecular Optical (AMO) Physics research lab is an excellent tool to train and mentor undergraduate students in advanced laboratory techniques. Students gain valuable basic experience in experimental designs, data acquisition techniques, working with high precision optical equipment, building electronics, and working in the machine shop. The current project is building and testing an enclosure for the diode laser to reduce sound and vibrational interference. In addition, we are developing and evaluating a new, more compact laser cavity which is 3d printed. …

Key Encryption Through Quantum Optics, Madison Durrance, Zach Galberd, Abbey Savage, Tristan Cabrera, Josh Hoffman

Georgia College Student Research Events

Cryptography has been around since the dawn of human civilization to send private messages for commercial, military, and political purposes. Some of the most important ciphers are the Vigenère cipher, the enigma, and the more modern RSA. Because of the development of the internet, private encryption has also become increasingly more important. The weakest link of encryption is the key creation and key distribution. A key is needed to encrypt and decipher codes and is needed by both the user and sender. A solution to this problem is the generation of quantum key distributions. In our experiment, we are now …

3d Printing Plastic Scintillators, Madison Durrance, Nicolas Merino, Emily Vanderwolf

Georgia College Student Research Events

Scintillation is the production of visible light in a transparent material when exposed to either an electron, ion, or some other high energy particle. There are many ways to manufacture scintillators, but unfortunately many of these methods involve the costly machining of crystal materials. We plan to reduce this cost by attempting to manufacture plastic scintillators using a 3D printer. The most difficult challenge has been making transparent prints. We have had success with PET filament, the same plastic used in soda bottles. Upon successful clear prints, we intend to use recycled bottles to manufacture our own doped fiber. Organic …