5ExperimentalSetupDuetothemanyconceptsandvariationsinvolvedinperformingtheexperimentsinthisprojectandalsobecauseoftheirintroductorynature,Project1willverylikelybethemosttimeconsumingprojectinthiskit
Thisprojectmayrequireasmuchas9hourstocomplete
Werecommendthatyouperformtheexperimentsintwoormorelaboratorysessions
Forexample,powerandastigmaticdistancecharacteristicsmaybeexaminedinthefirstsessionandthelasttwoexperiments(frequencyandamplitudecharacteristics)maybeperformedinthesecondsession
ANoteofCautionAlloftheabovecommentsrefertosingle-modeoperationofthelaserwhichisaveryfragiledevicewithrespecttoreflectionsandoperatingpoint
Onemustensurethatbeforeperformingmeasurementsthelaserisindeedoperatingsingle-mode
Thiscanberealizedifasingle,broadfringepatternisobtainedorequivalentlyagoodsinusoid