Physics Research

Physics Research

Physics Research

The Department of Physics is housed on the ground level of the Patrick E. Haggerty Science Center. The physical facilities for the department include separate laboratories for nuclear physics, electronics, and optics, as well as for introductory courses. The advanced laboratories are equipped with up-to-date instrumentation including the following: an atomic force microscope, a scanning electron microscope, a muon detector, a multichannel analyzer for nuclear measurements, an x-ray apparatus for crystallography, semiconductor logic sets for electronics, Michelson and Fabry-Perot interferometers, and an Ocean Optics spectrometer. In addition, the department maintains the Haggerty Observatory on campus. A 16-inch computerized Cassegrain telescope with a CCD camera is housed in the 5-meter dome and is available for student research projects. In addition to our on-campus facilities, students often complete nuclear physics research at laboratories off campus and astronomy and astrophysics studies using remote observatories such as the Monroe Robotic Observatory of the University of North Texas.  Beginning in the Fall of 2017,  experimental neutrino physics will be offered as well using such facilities as the MINOS far detector in the Soudan lead mine in northern Minnesota.