Laboratories
Students of the department enter the laboratories in their second year and work on the instruments used for dissertations and for papers submitted to international journals. Six laboratories are devoted to research, one to teaching; the boundary between them is a matter of scheduling rather than of equipment.
Centre for Microscopy and Laser Spectroscopy
The heaviest equipment is held not by the department but by a shared-access facility of the University — the Centre for Microscopy and Laser Spectroscopy, established by rectoral order at the end of 2024 and in operation since 2025. Instruments of this class cannot be justified in a single room used a few days a month; in a shared centre they serve the Faculty of Physics, the chemists and biologists, and external organisations.
- FEI Quanta 200F scanning electron microscope — surface structure where optics no longer reaches
- FEI transmission electron microscope — the internal structure of a sample
- NT-MDT Ntegra Prima Basic atomic force microscope — relief at nanometre resolution
- Renishaw RMS21 Raman microscope — chemical bonds and mechanical stress in a sample
- FTIR spectrometer — infrared spectroscopy
- SEO MFC2 multifunctional deposition system and SEO SUP21 chemical deposition system — growth of thin films
- SEO SC-12 centrifuge — spin coating
Academic staff, researchers and students of the University obtain access under the centre’s regulations. External organisations may order measurements on a contractual basis; enquiries go to the department in the first instance.
Research laboratories
- Spectroscopy of Condensed Matter — absorption, luminescence and Raman spectra of crystals, films and nanostructures, including measurements at low temperature. Students carry out coursework and diploma projects here and can become co-authors of publications before graduating.
- Laser Engineering and Applied Quantum Electronics — the laser as an object of study: resonator, active medium, pumping and Q-switching; laser safety practice is part of the training.
- Laser Spectroscopy — the laser as an instrument: Raman scattering, laser-excited luminescence, time-resolved measurement and non-linear effects.
- Polarisation Measurements, Integrated and Fibre Optics — polarimetric determination of internal stress in glass, film thickness and optical activity of solutions; coupling of radiation into optical fibre and integrated waveguides.
- Advanced Optical Materials — transparency, refractive index, behaviour under irradiation and defect content of crystals, glasses, films and coatings.
- Physics of Living Matter — scattering and absorption of light in tissue, luminescence of biomolecules and fluorescent labels, spectral discrimination of cell states.
Spectroscopic Measurements — teaching laboratory
The principal teaching facility of the department. Twelve practical courses are run here, taking a student from the operation of a laser source to the design of an independent measurement and the demonstration that its result is correct. Each course has its own set-up, its own samples and a written report to defend.
- Laser physics
- Colorimetry
- Polarisation methods of optical measurement
- Non-linear optics
- Techniques and methods of spectral measurement
- Coherent phenomena
- Optoelectronic devices and systems
- Digital electronics and microcontroller technology
- Optics of semiconductors
- Modern microscopy
- Optical metrology
- Optical materials science
Virtual tour
The laboratories have been photographed panoramically. Six instruments are documented with English descriptions of the measurement principle and of the questions each instrument answers. Open the virtual tour.