Lab Notes for Optics Experiments

Started setting up a basic michelson interferometer to get a feel for the current system.

No readout yet, but a viewing screen and an F=35mm lens. We can see the fringe pattern and we can even align the beams for almost perfect colinearity so we only see the center dark spot.

Using the cheap laser diode which doesn't allow for proper current control. Played with the voltage to find a stable mode. Somewhere around 3.7V, we found a sweetspot.

Considered readout options: We will most likely try to use the camera in hopes that we can use some tricks to get better resolution with it. The alternative would be a photodiode.

Thinking about using a fiber as a hack to turn our messy beam profile into a proper gaussian.

Used the laser to characterize the vibration isolation of the STM, see Lab Notes for the STM (2025-09-07).

Results are documented in Laser-Wobble.ipynb from Calculations/ (Rendered Notebook).

Measured beam profile at varying distance, see Lab Notes for the STM (2025-09-06).

Left to right: 50mm, 100mm, 200mm, 400mm. The 400mm measurement includes a mirror which is why the orientation is flipped.

Played with camera and beam profile readout, see Lab Notes for the STM (2025-09-05)