This is a one-term course about basics of measurements which I tought from 2014 to 2016. It comprised of a short course of lectures followed by laboratories. Below are some materials I used for this course, which I hope could be usefull.
Week 1: Measurements of free fall acceleration (Experiment I)
We used the simplest measurement devices such as a meter stick and stop-watch to measure the acceleration of a free-fallen body.
Week 2: Measurements of free fall acceleration (Experiment II)
We used a more sophisticated setup employing photo-diodes and oscilloscope to repeat measurements of acceleration of a free-fallen body.
Week 3: Measurements and analysis of rate of random events
We used home-made cloud chambers to observe tracks of high-energy particles in cosmic rays, counted their rate and checked if it obeys the Poisson statistics using the Chi-squared test.
Here is about 10 min long movie made by a student and her analysis of the counted rates.
We studied techniques to accurately measure very small resistance (<1 Ohm). Then we used these techniques to measure the resistivity of copper and compare with known values.
Week 5: Large resistance measurements
We studied techniques to accurately measure very large resistance (>109 Ohm).
Week 6: Pirani pressure gauge project
We built and calibrated a Pirani pressure gauge based of resistance measurements of a tungsten wire.
Week 7: Low level measurements: Introduction to Lock-in Amplifier
We studied basics of lock-in amplifier and tried to improve on our resistance measurements. We also studied different sources of noise.
Week 8: Tutorial on remote control of instruments and LabView programming
An intense four-hour tutorial on GPIB interface and LabView programming.
Week 9: Analysis of AC circuits
We used the lock-in amplifier and remote control to measure characteristics of common AC circuits.
Week 10: Using modulation techniques
We studied different modulation techniques to improve signal-to-noise quality of our measurements.
Week 11: Noise analysis of RF amplifiers
We measured and compared noise characteristics of RF amplifiers.
Week 12: Quartz Microbalance
We used different RF techniques, such as modulation and heterodyne detection, to measure resonance characteristics of a quartz microbalance (QM). Then we used QM to measure a tiny mass (< 10-6 kg) of material.
