OMEGA OPTICAL PHOTONICS KIT www.omegafilters.com
Bringing Information to Light
Learn principles of photonics
and how light’s interactions with matter play a role in our everyday lives.
Help students get a head-start on the exciting careers of tomorrow.
Hands-on labs examine a wide variety of topics within photonics.
One Photonics Kit accommodates 6 small groups of students.
Omega Optical’s Photonics Kit
provides science educators with the tools they need to teach photonics; the study and application of electromagnetic energy. Twelve laboratory activities encourage students to explore the environment around them and discover the principles on the interactions of light and matter and how to manipulate these interactions.
Some of the great advances of the 21st century, photonic computing, ultra high-density storage media and high efficiency photovoltaic’s, have relied greatly on the field of photonics and are certain to see big advances in the next fifty years.
Photonics now and in the future
begins with the educational systems of our society today. Currently, a major segment of the curriculum in high school physics is aimed at traditional Newtonian concepts and there is little time devoted to the emergent field of photonics. The hands-on labs in this kit examine a wide variety of topics within photonics. Students will follow a logical progression from explorations of behavior of light to how it can be manipulated and used. The concepts include many traditional topics like absorption, reflection, refraction and polarization, as well as some more complex topics like fiber optics, analog/digital communication, waveparticle duality and bright-line spectra.
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Example Lab Lessons VIS
Color Perception Utilize several different white light sources and explore not only how the human eye perceives color, but different methods on how to create color. The roles and wavelength sensitivities of the different types of photoreceptive cone cells contained in the retina are examined. Use interference filters to demonstrate the principles of additive and subtractive color as schemes used to create the vast array of colors we see produced in movies, color printers, photographic dyes, etc.
UV Bee Vision (UV+Blue+Green)
Complementary Colors: Interference Filters Learn about light’s possible interactions with a physical boundary: transmission, reflection, refraction, or absorption. As the concept of interference filter is discussed you will use a two-color filter to visualize how colors can vary depending on whether the incoming light is
transmitted through the boundary, or reflected from it. Explore the differences between an absorption filter and an interference filter and how the angle of incidence of the incoming ray plays a role in how each type of filter interacts with light.
Reflection and Refraction A bright white sheet of paper and a bathroom mirror both reflect about the same amount of light. Why can you see an image of yourself in the mirror but not in the paper? Why does a glass prism separate light into a rainbow of colors but a glass window does not? In this exercise you will explore the laws of reflection and refraction
(Snell’s Law) using a laser pointer and substances of differing refractive indices (air and water). The concepts of TIRF (Total Internal Reflection) and the critical angle are explored and the use of these phenomena is discussed.
Fluorescence and Phosphorescence These physicochemical properties have been exploited in countless products and across a broad spectrum of disciplines, from lasers, room lighting to glow in the dark posters and invisible ink
pens. You will explore what causes the phenomena and why they exhibit different characteristics. Also examined is the relationship of emitted photons and electrical current using the multimeter.
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Polarization LCDs used in computer monitors, iPods and cell phones all use the properties of polarization to generate the contrast needed to view the displays, yet few people are aware that just by removing the imbedded polarizing filters the unit is rendered useless. This lab introduces the concepts of parallel and perpendicular polarization, birefringence, and Brewster’s Angle. Using a laser pointer, polarizing filters, and a multimeter, you will discover:
• how different polarization states can be made to transmit or reflect off the same surface simply by changing the orientation of the surface • if the incoming light is polarized or not • how the energy striking a light sensitive LED changes depending on the angle of incidence of the incident light source.
Solar Energy Harnessing the energy of the sun by direct capture of light striking the Earth’s surface has largely been an untapped resource. In order to harvest this energy, the use of photovoltaic cells is required. In this exploration you will learn about band gaps, the conduction and valence bands, and the basics of photocell design. Using filtered
light of differing wavelengths you will measure the amount of energy captured by a typical solar cell and a blue LED and draw conclusions about each band gap. You will also learn about measuring the efficiency of a photocell by plotting an IV curve and finding the fill factor of the cell.
Light Emitting Diodes LEDs are a remarkably simple device composed of only two layers of semi conductive material. The functions of the two, the n and the p-type semiconductor layers, are covered. In this lab you will use a homemade spectroscope to examine the spectra of several different LEDs and discover how an LED is not only a light
emitting device, but a light detecting device as well. The use of interference filters demonstrates how not all LEDs respond to the same wavelengths of light.
Interference The wave particle duality nature of light is one of the more fascinating discoveries in the field of photonics. In this lab the classic two-slit experiment is replicated using a monochromatic light source and diffraction slit.
Fiber Optics In this exercise, you will uncover the mystery of light transmission through a fiber. The fibers construction and the refractive index differences in the materials contribute to loss in
transmission. LED light moving through a multimode optical fiber measures the efficiency of the transmission.
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The Photonics Kit includes:
Tools for 6 groups 56 different optical interference filters
Specific topics covered in the Lesson Manual include:
25 light sources including laser diode, light emitting diode (LED), fluorescence, incandescence and atomic emission 6 of 3.5 digit digital multi-meter; sensitivity to .001 mA and .001 V
C olor Perception C omplementary Colors: Interference Filters
Assorted mounting hardware to assemble components
R eflection and Refraction F luorescence and Phosphorescence
Instructor plans with supporting notes
S olar Energy Lab L ight Emitting Diodes I nterference
Chart of the electromagnetic spectrum
F iber Optics
Wooden storage chest
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P olarization
Credit: Images of Buttercup flowers are courtesy of Dr. Klaus Schmitt
License to reproduce 12 lesson plans