Colloquium

Friday, 25 April 2008 at 3:15 PM

Neils Science Center Room 224

Refreshments at 3:05 PM in Room 231

VU Senior Research Projects: Final Reports

The Hall voltage is the potential difference created across a sample that has a current running through it when it is subjected to a transverse magnetic field. By using the temperature dependence of the magnitude of the Hall voltage, the band gap for p-doped Germanium can be determined.

In this experiment, the relative abundances of ⁹²Mo, ⁹⁸Mo, and ¹⁰⁰Mo will be measured using beta decay spectra. A sample of naturally occurring Mo will be irradiated with the thermal neutron bath at Valparaiso University. A NaI(Tl) will then be used to observe the beta decays from ⁹³Mo, ⁹⁹Mo, and ¹⁰¹Mo. Once the decay spectra are obtained, known decay spectra and detector characteristics will be used to determine the relative abundance of the three naturally occurring isotopes.

Faraday rotation is a magneto-optical effect whereby the plane of polarization of plane polarized light traveling through a material in a magnetic field is rotated. The angle of rotation is related directly to a constant of a material, the Verdet constant. The Verdet constant is dependent on the incoming lights frequency. In my study I set up the ground work for performing wavelength dependent studies of the Verdet constant at VU as well as making a comparison between prediction and experiment for water.