The Lab

Used for PY3107 (physical) and PY3108 (electronic) student labs. The space is also left open as a social and study space for all 3rd year students. Similar to the second year lab, this allows students to make friends with their full year aswell as other years, which have their own study and social spaces on the same floor. The space encourages peer-to-peer learning and gives students access to PCs and printing facilities. 

Electronic Experiments

The aim of this course is to learn how to build, test and automate characterisation of advanced electronic devices. It builds upon the experince students gain from the previous course in second year. 

Students design and build devices according to a set of prescribed constraints. Devices include

• the current source,
• photodiode amplifier,
• temperature probe and
• a temperature controller.

Students verify the operation of devices they have built by using them to characterise single components, e.g. resistors, semiconductor diodes, LEDs and laser diodes. Students control their devices using a micro-controller interfaced through LabVIEW. 

The learned/transferable skills include constrained design and how this impacts the performance of electronic devices, control theory, computer and micro-controller programming, automation of data collection, data analysis, report writing and lab methodology.