Strain Imaging Microscope

Led a group of four undergraduate students in building an optical microscope capable of using SHG to quantitatively measure and image the strain in TMDC excitonic devices (March 2023 - April 2023), then finished the project on my own (April 2023 - August 2023).

Built a cheap, Arduino-controlled rotation mount for polarization-dependent SHG measurements.
Learned to operate the Spirit NOPA laser and set up a new Coherent Mira-900 laser for generation of SHG-inducing pulsed laser light.
Designed, aligned, and tested the optical system for locating the sample under white light, measuring the polarization dependent SHG, and calculating the strain.
Tested different photodetectors and hardware configurations to maximize the SHG SNR with a lock-in.