Facilities for Optical Studies of Solids

In the Physics Department there is a well equipped modern laboratory for optical studies of semiconductor epilayers, superlattices, and other heterostructures involving systems of low dimensionality (e.g., quantum wells and quantum dots). The laboratory is equipped with photoluminescence, excitation photoluminescence, reflectivity, absorption, and magneto-optical capabilities. For photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation a titanium-sapphire/dye laser is used. This laser is pumped by a 15-W Argon-ion laser, and can be continuously tuned across a spectral region from 350 up to 980nm.

The above experiments can be done in temperatures between 1.5 and 300K. Photoluminescence experiments can also be done with a spatial resolution of less than 2.0 micrometers. Magnetooptical techniques include magneto-photoluminescence, magneto-absorption and reflection, Faraday and Kerr effects, as well as circular magnetic dichroism. For these latter experiments we use an Oxford Instruments optical cryostat and a split-coil superconducting magnet. Magnetooptical studies can be performed in the Faraday, Voigt, or intermediate geometries, using linear or circular polarizations, as needed.