Experimental methods in physics

This 3-credits master course (PHYS-405) is offered in Autumn semester. By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

  • Integrate the notions of critical reading of articles,
  • Assess / Evaluate scientific articles, their quality and defaults,
  • Interpret knowledge of several specific experimental methods.

Objectives

  1. Learning several advanced methods in experimental physics,
  2. Critical reading of experimental papers.

Content

Noise and interference: Their origins, their influence on experimental results, methods for noise and interference reduction

– Scanning probe microscopy (SPM): Principles of operation of the scanning tunneling microscope and atomic force microscope, Advanced scanning microscopy techniques, applications

– Optical spectroscopys: The elements of a modern spectroscopy system,methods of spectral dispersion and their advantages, optical detectors

– Electron microscopy: Transmission and scanning microscopes, their principles of operation, observation tecniques, uses …

– Structural characterization: RX, electron diffraction, …