Instructional Optics/Laser Lab, Baskin Engineering Room 148

WARNING - DANGER This laboratory contains Class 4 and Class 3b lasers which can cause temporary and permanent blindness should beam strike the eye. Do not leave in energized state or with shutter open when not in use. Ensure optical table has appropriate beam blockages in place prior to operation and that all laser safety rules are followed. All personnel in laser lab are required to wear the appropriate laser safety eyewear for the laser in operation.

• Maximum Number of Students per Section: 9 plus 1 instructor or teaching assistant (limited by number of laser goggles, 10 goggles for each laser)
• Recommended Students per Section: 5 or less
• Number of Lab Stations: 1
• Lab Stations in Brief: (1) Computer/Electronic Benches, (1) Laser/Optics Table, (1) General Purpose Workbench

General Description

This a highly specialized class laboratory used for student demonstrations while investigating optical effects of free space lasers and fiber optics. Lab access is restricted to instructor or TA attended hours due to the dangers associated with operating lasers. Access to lab is via the main corridor of Jack Baskin Engineering Building. Door has an electronic combination lock (Omnilock) installed, Instructors and Teaching Assistants are given their own keycode, which must be kept secure from others. Electronic lock tracks access by everyone.

Lab lasers are connected to a door interlock system. Interlock system is designed to shutdown or shutter the laser when the door is opened. Laser interlock system can be bypassed by personnel who have access code to the interlock system. This bypass allow the door to be opened for approximately 10 seconds at a time.

Lab Lasers

• (1) Class 4: Coherent Verdi Laser,
• (1) Class 3b
• (1) Class 4; Hewlett Packard Tunable Laser (typically used for Fiber-Optic Experiments)

Class 3b and 4 lasers can cause permanent injury or blindness. Follow all lab and laser safety rules and use extreme caution when they are in operation. Do not leave in energized state or with shutter open when not in use.

Lab Safety and Security Rules

• Laser Eyewear (different for each laser) SHALL BE WORN BY EVERYONE in the lab while lasers are in operation.
  This is a campus requirement. Failure to comply can result in severe disciplinary action including suspension from the University.
  
• Everyone with lab access must read and sign Optics Lab Safety Manual and view the Laser Safety Video Tape.
  This is a campus EH&S requirement designed to protect laser workers and others from becoming injured due to laser illumination.
• No jewelry/watches are permitted in lab while lasers are in operation.
  Jewelry on personnel can (and does often) contribute to laser reflections off the table and into eyes of laser workers.
• No Food or Drink is permitted in the lab.
  Exception are only for sealed water bottles and lunches kept within your backpacks. This rule is needed to protect expensive equipment and to protect people from ingesting hazardous materials. Often soldering, gluing and other fabrication may take place in the lab. These activities leave small amounts of materials behind which would not be good to ingest.
• Enrolled students for course only allowed in lab. Do not let other students into lab. Lab is reserved for the exclusive use of students enrolled in the course and for students that have made prior arrangements with BELS and faculty for use of the lab. Students working in lab must have

Course List

Typical courses: EE130L

Lab Equipment & Facilities

Computers (typically 1 in lab unless removed for other classes)
Dell Pentium III Computer with 17in CRT Display
450MHz, 256MB memory, 8.0GB Harddrive, 250MB Zip Drive, 3.5" floppy, CDROM
National Instruments IEEE-488.2 GPIB Interface Card
Networked to SOELABS Windows 2000 domain via 100baseT connection.

Software Listing (1/2/03)
Windows 2000 with Service Pack 2
Matlab 6.1 (SOE Network License)
Cadence PSD 14.0
Labview 6.1
SSH Secure Shell & SFTP Version 2.4.0
Adobe Acrobat 5.0.5
Windows Media Player 7.01
Internet Explorer 5
Winzip

Common Lab Equipment

• (1) xx Newport Optical Bench ( vibration specs)
• (10) Laser
• (1) Lockable cabinet for TA supplies
• (2) white boards.

Optional Equipment (shared with other labs, not always available)

• Solder Irons
• Miniature Drill Press
• Microscopes
• Surface Mount Soldering Stations

Lab Setups