OPTI 415L/515L
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Optical Specifications, Fabrication, & Testing Laboratory (1 unit). Practical measurement techniques for optical surfaces, components and systems, comparing measurement data with specifications, relating fabrication issues with test methods. Must be taken concurrently with OPTI 415 or 515.

Meeting Times:
Entire class meets for one-hour recitation per week.
Students work in small groups for one 3-hour lab session per week.

Grading :
415L Undergraduates: 100% from lab notebooks
515L Graduate Students: 75% from lab notebooks, 25% from project/report

Lab Notebook
The lab notebook is the most important part of the lab. You need to keep your notebook up to date, and write in it as you do the lab. You must use a bound notebook that has numbered pages that cannot come out.

Your notebooks must contain everything needed to reproduce the experiment:

  • Date, time, lab partner(s)
  • Objective of the experiment
  • Diagrams of any set-ups
  • All observations and comments
  • Required calculations with equations
  • Answers to the questions from the handouts
The notebook must be neat enough that somebody else reading your notebook could understand what you did. All markings in the lab notebook should be made in pen. It is a good idea to cut out and tape relevant material into your notebook where appropriate. Use digital images where appropriate. It is also useful to keep a table of contents for your notebook.

The notebooks will be graded on the basis of completeness of the lab write-up and answering the questions. Each lab will be graded for the following:
  • Preparation: Before starting the lab, the objective should already be entered into the notebook, along with a summary of the preparation that was completed.
  • Diagrams of lab setups, Should be concise, yet include important parameters
  • Any data, presented in a neat form, including labels
  • Observations, should be concise and neat
  • Answers to questions if any
Final Paper
At the end of the term, graduate students must submit a 3-5 page paper covering a topic of your choice from this course. The paper, which should be written as an informal technical memo, will be worth 25% of your grade. The paper should present a summary of one of your labs in a complete and concise way.

The final paper should include the following:
  • Introduction
  • Description of the equipment and setup
  • Presentation of the data, including uncertainties
  • Discussion, including interesting observations
  • Lessons learned