• This is an advanced experimental laboratory course, intended for graduate students who did not have an opportunity to conduct advanced lab work during their undergraduate programs. As such, it is taught in conjunction with PHYS 3P91, although the expectations for the writing of lab reports are different, and more stringent, for students enrolled in PHYS 5P80.
• For more details, please follow the announcements on the PHYS 3P91 web page.

Previous announcements

This is an approximate list; some of the experiments are conducted on research-grade equipment which may not always be available for student use. Some of the experiments listed below may not be offered this year, and others may be added to the list.

• Preparation of a thin film of Bismuth (H303B)
• Resistivity and Hall effect measurements on a thin film of Bismuth (H300A)
• Gamma-ray scintillation spectroscopy and the Compton effect (H308)
• Energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction (H305B)
• Planck's constant measurement I (black-body radiation) (H308)
• Planck's constant measurement II (photoelectric effect) (H308)
• Electron diffraction (H300)
• Raman spectroscopy (H300A)
• X-ray powder diffraction (H305)
• Differential scanning calorimetry (H208)

This is an advanced experimental laboratory course, 13 weeks in duration, four hours per week. Normally, six lab reports are completed, some involving several weeks of experiments.

Completing all experiments and submitting all lab reports is required to pass the course. Lab marks contribute a total of 75% to the final grade.

There is a two-part final exam in the course:

• an oral exam worth 15% of the final mark, during which the student has access only to his/her lab book and reports and may be required to provide detailed explanations of the operating procedures and/or of the operation of the equipment in any of the experiments; and
• a written submission, due by noon on the last day of classes and worth 10% of the final mark, that is a re-write of one of the lab reports into a formal article manuscript, acceptable in format to Phys. Rev. Students are encouraged to bear this in mind during the labs, and to take extensive notes that could later be used for such final written submissions.

Maintaining safe and tidy workspace in the laboratory is required, and a failure to do so will result in an immediate involuntary withdrawal from the course. A passing grade in the course is conditional on maintaining safe laboratory practices, and on the final clean-up of the laboratory workspace at the end of the term, to the satisfaction of the instructor.