Journal of Undergraduate Research

Malcom Hicken and Dr. R. Steven Turley, Physics and Astronomy Lithography is the process of focusing light to etch a micro-circuitry pattern on silicon chips. In order to get smaller patterns, and thus more condensed computer chips, bright sources of low-wavelength light are needed. The goal of this project was to produce a bright source […]

Jed Whittaker and Dr. Robert Davis, Physics and Astronomy Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a useful method for obtaining images of surfaces on the nanometer scale. It has been used to image surfaces in many environments, including in atmosphere, vacuum and fluids. The resolution of these images is subject to the size of the probe […]

Jared R. Stenson and Dr. Jean-Francois S. Van Huele, Physics and Astronomy Introduction In order to progress we are often forced to adopt certain conventions. Just over a century ago, several new scientific ideas were emerging which increased the need to revise our mathematical methods and adopt new standard approaches. The Clifford Algebra was one […]

Eric L. Peterson and Dr. Ross L. Spencer, Physics and Astronomy Research groups at BYU and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) are actively investigating the properties of pure-electron plasmas, which fall into the more general class of nonneutral plasmas. Electrons are excited and injected into a Malmberg-Penning trap where they form a […]

Jorj Ian Owen and Dr. Robert C. Davis, Physics and Astronomy Introduction and Background A light emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that gives off light. An LED works by the combination of electrons and electron holes (a moving, positive charge caused by missing electrons). As the electron and electron hole combine, the electron […]

Rebecca Olson and Dr. Scott D. Bergeson, Physics and Astronomy We developed a new interferometric method of measuring the wedge angles of beamsplitters and the deviation angles of penta prisms. This method could easily be extended to certify the angles on other optical pieces as well. We built the interferometer and analyzed the images using […]

Catherine Morris and Dr. Eric Hintz, Physics and Astronomy This project looked for variability in quasars 3C273 and Mark 509. Between May 2003 and July 2003 several nights of data were taken on these quasars. The project was also to see if “good” data on quasars could be obtained using the BYU 16” telescope, since […]

Bonnie J. McLaughlin and Dr. Scott Bergeson, Physics and Astronomy High power green lasers are used extensively in laboratories for numerous applications. The cost for commercial green lasers is around $60,000. When I was searching for a research project for my senior thesis for my BS in Physics, Dr. Bergeson proposed I build a green […]

Brent A. Chipman and Dr. Ross Spencer, Physics and Astronomy The motivation for this work comes from the paper “Parametrically Pumped Electron Oscillators” by J. Tan and G. Gabrielse (1). Tan and Gabrielse describe a number of unexplained behavior exhibited by electrons confined in a parametrically pumped penning trap. In order to gain a better […]

Jason A. Gilbert and Dr. J. Ward Moody, Physics and Astronomy Scientists who attempt to unravel the mysteries of the universe have some physical limitations to deal with in their quest. For example, an observer must stay up all night to operate the telescopes that record the data. There are now automated telescopes that allow […]