The HALO lab will allow students to work with intense lasers. Courtesy | Michael Tripepi
Hillsdale students can now study lasers in an advanced optics and laser lab designed by the physics department.
Michael Tripepi, assistant professor of physics, led the construction of the lab with the help of students, and it was completed this semester.
“The purpose of the Hillsdale Advanced Laser & Optics lab is to provide students with an opportunity to work with intense lasers,” Tripepi said, “to perform experiments, and do research on how light can interact with materials, either by damaging those materials, or changing their properties, or how it changes the properties of the laser itself.”
Paul Hosmer, chairman and associate professor of physics, said the department was excited to add Tripepi’s area of expertise to the department.
“The Nobel Prize in physics was just awarded to a development of certain lasers, so this is a really cutting-edge field in physics,” Hosmer said. “It’s nice that our physics department has another area for students to study. Students can get involved in all sorts of ways. From learning how to set up a laser lab, to taking data, running experiments, and analyzing materials in different ways.”
Tripepi said he wants to begin training students on operating the instruments and working with lasers.
“I hope to do some laser damage experiments, putting some metals and some materials like silicon and germanium in front of the laser, shooting it, and then imaging what those craters look like, because that can actually tell you a lot about what’s going on,” he said.
Tripepi said lasers are used in many different industries.
“The idea of studying how light interacts with matter is finding ways of being able to produce the light that you may want for a particular system for medical imaging or for chemical identification,” Tripepi said. “It can also help with manufacturing. Sheet metal can be cut using high powered lasers.”
Tripepi said the lab will also feature various instruments that can analyze the laser.
“I’ve got different instruments that diagnose the laser, like cameras and power meters. The department already has an atomic force microscope, and that’s used to image really small features, so we’ll be utilizing that as well,” he said.
Tripepi said laser curtains and spectrometers are also necessary.
“Laser curtains are needed to block any stray laser light leaving the room. I would use spectrometers that tell the color of the light that’s either coming in or being reflected off of a sample or something,” he said.
Senior Khadija Hamisi said her interest in optics and photonics was born at her summer internship at Thorlabs Inc. where she worked with lasers on a daily basis.
“I’m just excited for this lab,” Hamisi said. “I’ve just enjoyed seeing the areas of research and labs expanding from the time that I got here as a freshman. I’m really excited to see what his lab is going to be in five years and the impact it will have on students.”
