Laboratory Optics

A multimedia interactive guide to developing practical skills for optics research.  Use as a class lab manual, an instructional tool or as an indispensable reference.

In concise, high-def videos, various skills and techniques are demonstrated and explained.  These cover topics for the novice, such as mounting and cleaning of optics, as well as for the more advanced learner, such as balanced detection, and lock-in amplifiers.

This is the streaming version.  It is a smaller download than the self-contained version, but requires an internet connection to use.  There is also a self-contained version that is a much larger file but requires no internet connection to view the videos.

Various interactive widgets let you simulate the experience of aligning a laser beam to an optical system, aligning an interferometer to get fringes, or adjust a Fabry-Perot cavity while observing the mode spectrum.  Other tools help you quickly find the Gaussian beam parameters of your laser from measured beam radii, and to calculate the position of a lens or pair of lenses to mode match a laser to a cavity.