From Physics 111-Lab Wiki

Contents 1 About the Emilio Segrè Internship 2 Honoring Emilio Segrè 3 How to Apply for a Segrè Internship 4 History of the Segrè Internship 4.1 Summer Interns 2010 4.2 Summer Interns 2009 4.3 Summer Interns 2008 4.4 Summer Interns 2007 4.5 Summer Interns 2006 4.6 Summer Interns 2005 4.7 Summer Interns 2004 4.8 Summer Interns 2003

About the Emilio Segrè Internship

Since 1995, the Physics Department has offered a summer internship for Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students to learn research techniques as they work to improve the Physics 111 Advanced Lab and Basic Semiconductor Circuits course. Interns collaborate with faculty and staff for eight weeks in the summer to improve experiments and develop new ones. Their responsibilities include:

• researching the underlying physics of the experiments
• participating in building apparatus
• programming computers to acquire data and control experiments,
• testing and trouble-shooting experiments

Interns also provide valuable input by contributing to the write-ups for the experiments.

This program benefits both the student interns and all students who take the Physics 111 course. Interns learn in-depth about the experiments they work on, gain skills in building the apparatus and testing complex systems as they would in a research lab, and build confidence in their ability to do science. In the Physics 111 lab, virtually every experiment has been influenced by the hard work of these interns, who provide the perspective only a student can give on how to make an experiment understandable, meaningful, and feasible for students taking the course. The quality of this course absolutely depends on the participation of students in development of experiments.

The Physics Department gratefully acknowledges the generous gifts of Douglas C. Giancoli that have made this internship possible.

Honoring Emilio Segrè

This award is given in memory of Emilio Segrè (1905-1989). Born in 1905, Segrè was the first student to earn his doctoral degree under the sponsorship of Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, his friend and collaborator for more than three decades. Upon immigrating to this country in 1938 (he later became an U.S. citizen), Segrè accepted a position at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he commenced one of his most productive periods in nuclear physics, working with Glenn Seaborg, a chemistry professor, on methods of separating nuclear isomers. In the period following World War II, the anti-proton, an atomic particle that sought to prove nature’s symmetry still eluded scientists. In 1955, using Berkeley’s powerful new cyclotron, Owen Chamberlain and Emilio Segrè made the first observation of the anti-proton. This discovery signaled a major leap in the study of matter and anti-matter. Emilio G. Segrè received the Nobel Prize in 1959 for his work with Anti-Protons.

For a delightful biographical sketch of Emilio Segrè by UC Berkeley Professor J. David Jackson, see the National Academies Press site.

How to Apply for a Segrè Internship

Applications from current UC Physics undergraduate and graduate students are accepted in April-May of each year. Your application should be submitted by the deadline of April 29th. During the semester, download the flyer and application form 2011 application form , print it out, then fill out the application, and submit it to Don Orlando in the Physics 111 lab.

History of the Segrè Internship

Summer Interns 2010

Cassie Reuter and Justin Ellin

Undergraduates Cassie Reuter and Justin Ellin worked all summer to improve the lab’s new Atom Trapping experiment. During the experiment’s first year of use, students could not consistently achieve a reliable magneto optical trap (MOT). Justin and Cassie painstakingly analyzed the behavior of the system and devised a straightforward procedure that works. The new procedure requires students to generate absorption spectra for Rubidium (Rb) lines and derive an error signal based on the Rb spectra. Students then use this error signal to tune the two servo controllers to lock the laser frequency. With the clear, well illustrated instructions provided by Cassie and Justin, students are now able to reliably generate a MOT after a few days of hard work. Success is rewarded when the trapped atoms appear as a ball of bright fluorescence in the center of the vacuum chamber. Once this milestone is achieved, students can pursue other investigations that were previously out of reach. They can study the sensitivity of the MOT to changes in beam size and alignment, beam polarization, beam power balance, and magnetic field gradient. They can tie these results to the underlying atomic physics. By interrupting the laser beam for varying periods to observe the decay and loading of the trapped atoms, students can measure the number of atoms trapped and their temperature. So far, students have achieved temperatures as low as 100 milliKelvin, or one-tenth of a Kelvin. Besides working out new procedures, Cassie and Justin modified the apparatus and software to make the new investigations possible. They revised the beam path through the Dichroic Atomic Vapor Laser Lock (DAVLL), which allows measurement of the laser’s frequency, reassembled the vacuum apparatus, and realigned many of the optics. They wrote a new program in LabView to control and take data from the experiment, incorporating many new features that will benefit students.

Summer Interns 2009

Marjon Moulai, Andrew (Drew) Sheldon, and Adam Fries

Marjon and Drew working on Optical Trapping

Adam added the DAVLL to Atom Trapping

Among the tasks the 2009 group accomplished were upgrading the Muon Lifetime experiment with a second photo multiplier tube, testing and troubleshooting the optical trapping experiment, modifying and pilot testing lab software, completing an atom trapping experiment, and improving the Semiconductor Hall Effect experiment. The major milestone of the summer was achieving a viable atom trapping experiment. They added a set of permanent magnets to create a uniform magnetic field around the Dichroic Atomic Vapor Laser Lock (DAVLL). This involved modeling the magnetic field with Mathematica to optimize the spacing of magnets, machining aluminum magnet mounts on a mill, and aligning the laser beams through the DAVLL. They built a voltage divider to replace two amplifiers, which included modeling the circuit, prototyping it on a breadboard, and building the final unit by soldering components on a circuit board. Once the modifications were complete, Adam wrote a program in LabView to generate pulses and perturb the negative feedback control of the laser and developed procedures for students to use.

Summer Interns 2008

Marjon Moulai, Tyler Draeger

Development and testing of the Optical Trapping experiment, rebuilding Muon Lifetime Experiment to replace analog signal processing with all digital processing and analysis, upgrading Compton Experiment, testing and revising Brownian Motion in Cells experiment.

Summer Interns 2007

Diana Lee, Nicholas Ravn

Assembly and testing of magnet and cooling circuits for Atom Trapping experiment, relocation of Brownian Motion in Cells setup and setup of new Optical Trapping station, developing of new wiki for advanced lab writeups.

Summer Interns 2006

Hector Cota, Nathan Kamphuis

Building the infrastructure for the new atom trapping experiment, researching and testing Brownian Motion in Cells experiment, redesign of Josephson Effect experiment

Summer Interns 2005

Daniel Queens, Nathan Kamphuis

Summer Interns 2004

Winthrop Williams, Evan Wolf

Summer Interns 2003

Evan Wolf,