New Mexico State University - Swastika Yearbook (Las Cruces, NM)

Page 27 text:

Construction of the new twin-domed observatory on A mountain Gilbert Cano works on an alpha particle recoil experiment. ' III The EPR (electron para-magnetic resonance) machine The physics department is current- ly doing supported research on nine projects. The support comes from a number of governmental agencies, including the Office of Naval Re- search, NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Air Force, and the Sandia Corporation. It is also carry- ing on five research programs which do not have outside support. One of the most glamorous areas in which research is being conducted is laser physics. A laser is a coherent source of light which is cr ' intense and almost mono-directional. For ex- ample, a light beam about one-fourth inch in diameter when it lea es the laser will spread to about twent - feet by the time it reaches the moon. Very intense lasers costing millions of dollars can disintegrate steel and many other metals. The lasers being used for research in the j hysics de- partment are not designed for high- power operation. The department operates four ruby lasers and two gas lasers. One of the research projects studies the refrac- tive index of a laser material in the vicinit ' of tlie laser line as the elec- tronic population is altered. Another project uses laser sources to study light-scattering from various gases as well as several types of crystal materials. In the latter stud- ies the experiments are carried out at li(iuid helium temperature. This is very cold — approximately four de- grees above absolute zero. Another ti

Page 26 text:

-VI ViJiXl PHYSICS [ 22 ]

Page 28 text:

Robert Turtle studies in a physics labora- tory. of the laser projects studies the dif- fraction effects inside a lasing rod. The physics department is doing some of the most important work go- ing on in long wave-length X-rays, or soft X-rays. Absorption edges from 10 to 50 angstroms are studied. Crystals are grown from potassium acid thalate and other crystals built up layer by layer from large stearate molecules. Work is just beginning in electron spin re- sonance. This research sheds a great deal of light on the nature of electric and magnetic fields in the interior of solids. But I don ' t understand! Dr. Soules works with PhD. candidate Fred Jeffers. Dr. Harold Daw, department head, presents Hugo awards for scholastic achievement to Hugo Bezdek (far left), highest junior class physics grade- point, and Wolfgang Rassmussen, highest sophomore class physics grade- point. The department is also doing research in nu- clear physics. A problem on the ionization pro- duced by recoiling pultonium nuclei has just been completed. Physicists in the department have built up a long tradition of research in the field of radio frequency plasma discharge. PhD. candidate Murphy Landry checks out a vacuum system.