Grey Goo Factor

A series of prisms, polarizers and diffraction screens modify light from a ti:sapphire laser.

I recently had the opportunity to visit the optics lab of the instructor of my thin films class. This image shows about a four foot section of an array that modifies light from a ti:sapphire laser. The array was at least 15 feet long on a central table in the equipment-packed room. The laser light trailed through this complicated array of lenses, prisms, and diffraction screens changing colors about 3 times and ultimately shining through a small vial of liquid containing a sample. The laser was being used for a spectroscopy experiment. The recent lectures in our class were about optics and the electromagnetic spectrum, including lasers and spectroscopy, so the visit was helpful in explaining these concepts. Thin films are widely used in optical equipment to change the frequency (directly related to color) of light as can be seen in this image.

The ultimate goal of the laser setup was to conduct a spectroscopy experiment by shining light through this sample holder. Note that the light going through the sample holder is green while the laser light before and after is blue.

(Draft: this post will most likely be further edited soon.)

This site has just been born. I am a student of nanotechnology and I will be adding posts related to my studies very soon after I get this site into a cohesive shape. Stay tuned!