A Spectrophotometer implementation as project-based learning in Photonics Engineering

摘要

The construction of a low-cost spectrophotometer as part of project-based teaching for postgraduatestudents in the field of Photonics Engineering is depicted. The criteria followed in designing thisproject include considerations about budget, portability and multidisciplinary skills. The proposal hasbeen carried out in the context of a 3 credit Experimental Projects I course, part of the Master inPhotonics Engineering taught by the Polytechnic University of Madrid, University Carlos III of Madridand University of Alcala. During its performance, students have been supplied with all the necessarymechanical and optomechanical hardware, as well as passive and active optical elements and drivingcircuitry. Their tasks include the manufacture of a diffraction grating by a brand-new nanoimprinttechnique, the optimization of the optical alignment for improving the optical transfer function andthe signal-to-noise ratio at the detection stage, and the programming of the control system and dataacquisition in a LabView environment. The outcome is a fully functional spectrophotometer.Although it has been designed and tested with students of photonics, its multidisciplinary and modularcharacter makes it useful also for undergraduate students from different disciplines, such as Industrial,Electronics or Automation Engineering. The open availability of the mechanical and electronic designsfurther allows its use by secondary teachers as a demonstrator of the different concepts used in theirimplementation (photonics, mechanics, electronics and software).