Ibn Sahl Corner for Optics | PhysLab

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Ibn Sahl Corner for Optics

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Optics is the study of light. The Ibn Sahl Corner for Optics is the recently grown niche for optical studies inside the Physlab. I call it “grown” because these experiments have been gradually built over many years and adapted through many cycles of improvement. These are not capsule black-boxes which are opaque to the experimenter’s imaginative curiosity, but open assemblies of optical components, light sources and detectors that invite students to ingeniously craft new designs and quantitatively observe optical phenomena. Through these experiments, students can learn about lasers, detectors, and various optical phenomena and all of these are investigated in rigorous, quantitative fashion. There is also an air of liberation with these experiments, as we encourage our students to explore uncharted territories.

We are currently in the process of adding a quantum twist to these experiments, dabbling with quantum light sources and the baffling properties of quantum mechanics.

I was lucky that a few months ago I was able to garner interest and support from a team of brilliant students from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore (Hamza, Mah Para, Zahra and Faizan) who worked with me day and night to fine-tune and improve my earlier versions. I also like to acknowledge support from my former students Almadar and colleague Rabia Salman.



The niche is named after the illustrious and relatively little known experimental physicist Ibn Sahl (died ca. 1000) who was ahead of his times; formulating the principles of light bending across interfaces and inventing several optical instruments. He flourished even before the prodigy Ibn Al Haitham. Ibn Sahl’s biography written by Professor Khadim Hashmi can be found here. (Uploaded by permission.)

What keeps me motivated about carving my own experiments and instruments is Omar Khayyam’s quartet:

گر بر فلکم دست بدی چون یزدان

برداشتمی من این فلک را ز میان

از نو فلکی دگر چنان ساختمی

کازاده بکام دل رسیدی آسان

whose translation provided by Edward Fitzgerald reads:

“Ah Love! Could Thou and I with Fate conspire?

To grasp the sorry state of things entire,

Would not we shatter it to bits, and then,

remold it nearer to the heart’s desire!”

This couplet underscores the desire to create a new world, which is the creator’s own world. This craftsmanship can be easily broken, is dearer to the heart and can be customized for versatile applications. Our own Ghalib, purportedly translates this into simple Urdu:

اور بازار سے لے آئے، اگر ٹوٹ گیا

ساغرِ جم سے مِرا جامِ سفال اچھا ہے

Now back to the physics. Like my other initiatives, you are free to reproduce these experiments and reuse the material you find in these pages. But please attribute and share-alike.

Here is a simple method of determining the polarization of a laser beam. Given below are the experiments currently being offered in the Ibn Sahl Corner for Optics.

Experiments

Code Tags
Diffraction from one dimensional grating 3.8 optics
Light is a transverse wave 1.22 optics
Polarization Peanuts with Fourier Analysis 3.7 optics
Mach-Zehnder Interferometry and Erasure of ‘Which-path’ Information 2.21 optics, quantum physics
Tuning a Laser Diode 3.6 optics
Investigating Longitudinal Laser Modes using a Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer 3.5 optics
Analyzing the Polarization State of Light through the Fourier Series 3.4 optics
Investigating Polarization of Light through Jones Calculus 3.3 optics
Surface Plasmon Resonance 2.15 optics
Michelson Interferometry 2.9 optics
Faraday’s Effect 2.6 magnetism, optics
Diffraction from Single Slit 3.2 optics
Reflection, Transmission and Fresnel Coefficients 3.1 optics
Optical Activity of the Chiral Solutions 1.5 optics

Think-aloud activities

Task Title Code Tags
Track spacing on a DVD 3.8A optics

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Overview
    • Centre for Experimental Physics Education (CEPE)
    • Physlab Team
    • Alumni
    • Open Positions
    • Muhammad Sabieh Anwar (Personal)
  • Academics
    • Lab Courses
    • Lab-I (PHY 100/200)
    • Lab-II (PHY 300/500)
    • Ibn Sahl Corner for Optics
    • Smart Physics
    • Single Photon Quantum Mechanics Lab
    • Chasing Cosmic Ray Muons at Physlab
    • Stories
    • Physics Studio
    • Research Stories
    • Class Activities
    • Courses Taught
    • Class Demonstrations
    • PhysDiary
    • Health and Safety
    • Lab Safety
    • Workplace Organization
  • Research
    • Research Themes
    • Research Internships
    • Research Stories
      • International Young Physicists’ Tournament (IYPT) 2019
      • International Young Physicists’ Tournament (IYPT) 2018
      • International Young Physicists’ Tournament (IYPT) 2016
    • Group Meetings
    • Grants
    • Theses and Reports
    • Scientific Publications
    • Invited Talks (Selected)
  • Outreach
    • The Scientific Mind Through the Eyes of a Physics Experimenter
    • National Laboratory Immersion Program
      • First Lahore 2012
      • Second Sukkur 2013
      • Third Lahore 2014
      • Fourth Lahore 2016
    • Labview Workshop 2016
    • Open House
    • Khwarizmi Science Society
    • Helping Pakistan’s Universities
      • National University of Technology (NUTECH) 2019
      • Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences
        (PIEAS) 2019 (Final Phase)
      • Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences
        (PIEAS) 2019 (Phase 2)
      • Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences
        (PIEAS) 2018 (Phase 1)
      • National University of Science & Technology 2016
      • Habib University 2014
      • Preston University 2013
      • Ghulam Ishaque Khan Institute of
        Engineering Sciences and Technology 2011
      • Institute of Space Technology 2010
    • The National STEM School
      • STEM School (2018 – 2019)
      • STEM school (2016 – 2017)
    • Abdus Salam Memorial Lecture Series
  • Facilities
    • Laboratories
    • Equipments
    • Devices & Softwares
      • PhysPlot
      • Physlogger
      • Phystrack
    • Mechanical Workshop
    • Inventory
    • 3D Printed Galleria
    • Forms
    • Equipment Howto’s
  • Media
    • Visitors
    • Testimonials
  • Contact Us