2024 MCSR Conference
Emma H presented a talk and Emma F presented a poster (and won a prize for best poster in the Physics and Engineering category!) at the 2024 MCSR conference hosted by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and Whitman College.
We are an experimental atomic physics group using ultracold gases to probe exotic quantum phases of matter and many-body spin dynamics.
News
Welcome, Morgan!
Morgan joined the lab to help build various equipment, and we had a BBQ to kick off the academic year.
New Funding
We're excited about new funding from the National Science Foundation through the LEAPS-MPS program. You can read the College's coverage of it here.
Summer Begins
The Lab is up at full strength for the summer. Emma H and Kaia are in Olin Hall, and Emma F is working on simulations remotely.
Swag
Lab Swag arrived, and we went out to lunch to celebrate the end of the academic year.
Demolition
We're clearing out old equipment to make space for our new experimental apparatus. Here Emma is removing old helium boil-off vapor lines from a cryostat that's been decommissioned.
Welcome Emmas!
Emma H and Emma F joined the lab to work on building and characterizing the lab's electromagnets.
Laser engraver active
Our first laser alignment task in the new lab was getting an 80~W CO2 laser engraver set up. Ready to cut!
We have moved!
The Olsen Lab has moved to Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR. Time to get working on rebuilding the apparatus!
Summer reseach begins
Pranshu, Laura, Phong, and Rafa joined the lab to work on various hardware-related projects (in a social-distancing compatible way).
Summer research complete
Areeb, Alvin, and Maaz worked hard all summer... from their rooms. They developed more capability for lab environment monitoring with raspberry pi's. Here is a rare picture of them in the lab near the end of the summer.
Virtual DAMOP Talk
Link to Ben's talk (registration required). Due to travel restrictions, the APS DAMOP meeting was held virtually this year. Ben talked about precision spectroscopy of Li vapor in buffer gases. Download the prerecorded talk here (200 MB).
Making a difference outside the lab
Coverage of Yun Da's side project in Latest@Yale-NUS. Using some of the same techniques as in the lab, Yun Da helped create a laundry machine status monitoring system.
Lab entering shutdown
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, all research labs in Singapore will be closing until May 4.
RGA operational
We installed an tested a residual gas analyzer from SRS on the lithium spectroscopy cell today - look at all those gases in the vacuum chamber!
Now with 100% more laser curtain
Our laser safety curtains were delivered and installed today - now we just need to get some powerful lasers that merit such durable curtains.
Equipment shelves assembled
Thanks to my parents, Gary Olsen (pictured here with in-progress shelves) and Cynthia Robeck, for their help installing the shelves to hold equipment over the optical tables.
Renovations complete, optical tables delivered
Renovations on the lab are finally complete, and the first piece of equipment has moved in. The optical tables are very stiff to reduce variations in laser beam paths, and sit on cushions of air in the legs to damp vibrations from the floor. Come visit us in Lab 1 of the Science Centre!
First doppler-free signal!
Late friday nights in the lab seem to yield the most results. Here is an oscilloscope trace of our first Doppler free saturated absorption spectroscopy signal. The broad peak is absorption due to all the lithium atoms (with a spread in velocities), while the narrow peaks are due only to atoms at rest along the direction of the laser beam.
New Group Member
Yun Da is a second-year student interested in raspberry pi and microcontrollers, and will continue development of our laboratory monitoring system. Welcome!
New Lab Interns
Welcome to our newest members of the lab - Jingying Wang and Angela Gupta. They will be assisting with the construction of our lithium spectroscopy cell and measuring shifts of the resonance frequency due to collisions with inert gases.
New Group Member
Dikshant is a first-year student interested in quantum physics. He will begin by building (classical) circuits and developing electronic tools for controlling equipment. Welcome!
Bon Voyage, Tabi!
Tabi is leaving to spend some time in the UK, followed by a semester abroad. On her last day in the lab this year, we sealed up the spectroscopy vacuum chamber and pumped it down to just below \(10^{-4}\) Pa. Great work, and see you in 2020!
First Labsnacks Box!
Our first order from Thorlabs arrived today. My initial excitement was dampened by the confusion of all the students: "Is this... American food?".
Summer research begins
A warm welcome to the newest members of the lab: Tabitha, Rishav, and Devendra! This summer, they'll build some of the foundations of the lab infrastructure: lab monitoring sensors, experimental control software, and a vacuum chamber for saturated absorption spectroscopy.
Join Us!
Positions available
Are you an undergrad interested in experimental physics? Positions are available for summer projects and research during the semester.