HOPE COLLEGE PHYSICS
DEPARTMENT
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
P H YS I C S
N E W S L E T T E R
JULY 2007
NEWS FROM THE CHAIR
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
2007 GRADUATES
2
ALUMNI UPDATES
2-3
ALUMNI PROFILES
3-4
NEW FACULTY
5
CURRENT FACULTY
5
ASTRPHYSICS
RESEARCH UPDATE
6
NUCLEAR GROUP
RESEARCH UPDATE
6-7
PARTICLE ACCELERATOR
7
Welcome to the first annual,
I hope, Hope College Physics
Department newsletter! This past year has
brought quite a few exciting
changes for us and I wanted
to share them with our
alumni and friends. First, as
many of you have probably
noticed, I referred to this as
the Physics Department
newsletter, not the Physics
and Engineering Department
newsletter! After almost 30
years of offering engineering
courses and 10 years of
being the department of
Physics and Engineering, the
nine faculty members in
Physics and Engineering and
the administration of Hope
College decided it was time
for the two programs to become separate departments. We began the process of studying the implications of the creation of two
departments over 3 years
ago and after carefully reviewing the pros and cons,
we officially requested permission from the administration to create two departments in May of 2006. They
agreed with our assessment
that the two programs were
both best served by this
change and in October 2006
they asked the board of trustees for approval to create
the two departments. They
too concurred with our assessment of the situation
and thus two departments
were formed. We are looking forward to the future as
the physics faculty members
continue to work closely with
our Engineering colleagues
but also strengthen our connections with other colleagues at Hope.
This was not our only exciting news this past year. Just
as the dust settled on the
new department name
signs, we had some changes
in staff. Mark Little left the
Physics faculty at Hope to
pursue an exciting opportunity in industry this past December. In addition, due to
sabbatical leaves, we had
an additional faculty opening for both the 2007 and
2008 academic years. Thus
we have hired two new
members! Stephen Remillard and Jennifer Hampton
will be joining us as assistant professors of Physics. We are very excited by
the great research programs
they will build here at
Hope! Our newsletter editor
(Karla Helvie) has interviewed both Steve and
Jenny and has written short
articles about both of them
for this newsletter so that
you can learn a bit more
about them!
With all of the changes described above, I'm pleased
to say that some of the best
things have not! Paul DeYoung (see page 9) and Peter
Gonthier (see page 8) are
continuing their great traditions of doing research with
students year round. They
are still providing excellent
educational opportunities
for Hope Physics students
both in the classroom and in
their research programs! In
addition, while Graham
Peaslee is not a member of
the Physics Department, he
continues to be an active
member of the Nuclear
Group and a driving force
behind the Hope Ion Beam
Analysis Laboratory (HIBAL,
page 7), which is a part of
the Physics department.
This newsletter is an opportunity for me to tell you
about all of the exciting
news from the department. We also have some
news to share from some of
your fellow Physics
alumni! Please let us know
a bit about the exciting news
in your life! Send me a
quick e-mail at
mader@hope.edu and tell
me what is happening!
If you happen to be in the
vicinity, let us know! We'd
love to have you come by
and visit!
Cathy Mader
Chair of
Physics
PHYSICS NEWSLETTER
Page 2
2007 PHYSICS GRADUATES
Justin Christopher Rieth
Justin, who is from Kalamazoo, Michigan,
graduated with majors in physics and Spanish, as well as a minor in math. He plans to
work in the Holland area for one or two
years, then move to South America
(probably Chile) and teach English for another year or two. Following that, Justin
wants to move back to the United States
and get a job working in the industry using
his physics major. There is a possibility that
he will continue on to graduate school as
well. When asked why he chose to become
a physics major, Justin said, “I love understanding how the world around me functions. However, if I don’t understand it, I
love being able to figure it out using more
fundamental knowledge and principles.
Learning the rules and laws of physics has
given me a more complete, beautiful, and
amazing way to see God in the seemingly
normal and simple day-to-day parts of life.
With physics, I get to see all of the most
basic parts that together form a very complete whole- something not available to the
students of very many disciplines.”
Luke Adam Wendt
Luke, from Kalamazoo/Parchment, Michigan, graduates with majors in physics and
electrical engineering. He is taking a year to
figure out where he wants to go and what
he wants to do. In the meantime, he will be
working with Dr. Caskey at LVR on quality
and control systems, TA, and possibly tutor
a little on the side while he studies for all
his entrance exams. He also wants to take
a few math classes for fun and to finish his
math minor. Luke plans to go to graduate
school to pursue a Ph.D. in physics or engineering. He would like to do high energy
physics with an equal mix of hands-on and
theoretical work. He has always been interested in robotics and control theory, and
would like to explore complex emergent
system behavior. When asked why he chose
to become a physics major, Luke answered,
“Physics is awesome! It is inspirational and
life altering. It constantly requires you to
challenge your perceptions. It is not subjective and demands integrity. It is the search
for the purist form of truth we can attain.”
Sarah Ann Story
Sarah, from Glendale Heights, Illinois,
graduated with a major in physics. She will
be attending Rice University to pursue her
Ph.D. in astrophysics. When asked why she
became a physics major, she answered, “I
have had a long-standing fascination with
the subject.”
Stefan Coltisor
Stefan, originally from Bucarest, Romania
graduated with a physics major. He plans to
go on to grad school to get his
PhD in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence/Robotics). Stefan said he chose to
major in physics because he “was skilled in
the subject and thought I could make a
career out of it.”
Stephanie Allen
Stephanie, from Park Ridge, Illinois, graduated with a major in Physics Education. She
will begin teaching physics to sophomores
and seniors at Maine South High School
(her Alma Mater) in the Chicago suburbs in
the fall. When asked why she became a
physics major, Stephanie replied, “ I took
two physics classes in high school and
loved both of them. I joked that I wanted to
be like my physics teachers because they
made learning physics so fun! I really enjoyed being able to learn about how different things works and why. When I was trying
to figure out what to major in after taking
General Physics 1 at Hope, I went back to
my old high school and one of my physics
teachers let me teach a couple lessons in
his class. From then on I knew I wanted to
teach physics. The experiences of research
and TA-ing labs have been invaluable to my
education and ability to teach. I can't wait to
start in the fall!”
Congratulations graduates!
ALUMNI UPDATES
Gregory Caskey (1977) received his MS
from the University of Wisconsin Madison in
1979 and his PhD, also from the University
of Wisconsin Madison in 1983. He is currently the co-owner of Lakeshore Vision and
Robotics, LLC.
William J. Davros (1981) is presently employed by Cleveland Clinic, where he is the
Section head in medical physics, division of
Radiology.
Richard Bouwens (1992) received his Ph D
from U.C. Berkeley and is currently a postdoc at UC Santa Cruz. He is a member of
the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS)
team
Greg Gemmen (1994) obtained his M.S. at
Northwestern University in 1996 and his
Ph.D. University of California, San Diego in
2006. He is currently a postdoc in the UCSD
Bioengineering Department.
Steven Sundbeck (1997) received his PhD
in Physics from U. Chicago and is currently
a Post Doc at Naval Research Labs.
Bassam Atallah (2000) is currently a
graduate student in Computational Neurobiology at UC San Diego.
Michelle Ouellette (2000) received her PhD
in Physics from Michigan State University.
Her specialty is Neutron Star Astrophysics
She is currently an Assistant Professor of
Physics at California Polytechnic State University.
Matthew Goupell (2001) received his PhD
in Physics from Michigan State University in
2005 and is presently a post doctoral researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
Brennan Hughey (2001) obtained his PhD
in Physics from U. Wisc. Madison and is
currently a post doc at MIT working on the
LIGO experiment.
Jordan Schmidt (2001) obtained his PhD in
Chemistry from U. Wisc. Madison and is
currently a postdoc at Yale University.
Daniel Valente (2001) received his PhD in
Accoustics from Penn State and is currently
a post doc at Cold Spring Harbor lab.
Jonathan Goupell (2002) is currently teaching high school physics, ecology and engineering in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Joseph Bychowski (2003) received his Masters in Physics from the University of Notre
Dame (2007), and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Notre Dame.
Lee Kiessel (2003) received his Masters of
Science in Medical Physics from U. Wisc.
Madison and is currently a PhD candidate
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
ALUMNI PROFILES
Dr. Mark Brown
“Think of Hope has kept quite busy
since
graduating
from Hope in 1977
with a Physics debeginning of
gree. After Hope,
an education… Brown went to the
University of Michilearning
gan and earned a
Master’s degree in
should be a
Computer Engineering. He then did
lifelong
some work as a
process.”
computer
design
engineer in Boston
and Chicago before
returning to Holland, where he taught
Computer Science at Hope. Later, he
returned to the University of Michigan
to receive another Master’s degree and
a PhD in bioengineering. He started
with Medtronic, a medical technology
company, where he now is as a Senior
Principal Scientist in the Research Department of the Cardiac Rhythm and
Disease Management division.
The major processes that Dr. Brown
goes through in his area of work are
first to invent ideas for implantable
as the
Page 3
MARK BROWN
medical devices and then to develop
these ideas into testable concepts. He
also reports and publishes the results
of his developments and research, and
advises other departments within Medtronic on future directions they should
take based on the findings of his and
his colleagues’ research.
Brown
says there is great satisfaction in this
work because every day he is adding to
Medtronic’s mission of contributing to
human welfare through biomedical
engineering.
Though sometimes it might be hard for
us to comprehend the future value of a
liberal arts education, Dr. Brown’s
words on the subject are reassuring.
Brown says, “While my physics, math,
chemistry and biology classes honed
my technical skills, the writing and
thinking skills I developed in English
and philosophy have been nearly as
important to me.” Out in the real world,
writing, communications, religion, sociology and philosophy are all an active
part of Dr. Brown’s job and life, despite
his science specialization.
For those of you who are near the
end of your Hope education, don’t get
ready to throw away those books just yet.
Dr. Brown wisely advises students, especially in technical fields, to think of Hope
as the beginning of an education. Since
technology is always rapidly changing,
learning should be a lifelong process.
Brown also says that it’s good to have a
clear vision of what you want to do, but
that we should remain open to God’s
calling and let Him steer us in new directions. Throughout his education and life
experiences, Dr. Brown has gained valuable insights, knowledge and experience—let his final words of advice for the
future be an
encouragement to you.
“Ask lots of
questions. Listen. Be an independent
thinker. Do the
right thing. Be
bold
and
brave. Be passionate about
your work.”
(More profiles on page 4)
ALUMNI UPDATES
in medical Physics at U. Wisc. Madison.
Carol Guess (2005) received her Masters in
Physics from Michigan State University
(2007) and is currently PhD candidate in
Physics at Michigan State University.
Tina Pike (2005) received her MS in Medical Physics from U. Wisc. Madison and is
currently a PhD candidate (medical Physics
at U. Wisc. Madison).
Jill Pinter (2005) is a PhD candidate in
Chemistry at Michigan State University.
Brandon Alleman (2006) is presently enrolled in the University of Iowa Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP).
Brenna Giacherio (2006) is currently a
Physics PhD candidate at Western Michigan
University.
Utsab Khadka (2006) is presently a PhD
candidate at the University of Arkansas,
Fayetteville.
Patrick Mears (2006) is currently a PhD
candidate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Andrew Moore (2006) is a Physics PhD
candidate at Western Michigan University.
Jordan Siemon (2006) is a PhD candidate
at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.
Want to be Added to the Update list?
As some of you know, we have an alumni
section on the Physics department website
which contains even more detailed information about some Hope Physics alumni. This
webpage is VERY dated. The 2002 graduating class was the last to be posted. Pub-
lishing the basic information about our
alumni is useful for us, other alumni and
potential physics majors to review. Thus we
will get back on track and update the
Alumni section of the website with the Updates you have just read here.
We would also like to update your information, so please contact us
(physics@hope.edu) and help us update
your information both on our website and in
our next newsletter!
In the process of updating the website, we
will remove contact information from the
public website. The Alumni Office is now
facilitating electronic communication between alumni and faculty through MyHope
(myhope.hope.edu). If you would like to
keep in touch with fellow hope Alumi,
please register at MyHope.
PHYSICS NEWSLETTER
Page 4
ALUMNI PROFILES (CONT)
KEITH DOORENBOS
A degree in Physics has taken Keith
Doorenbos, now an
Engineering
Manager
in
Seattle,
around the world.
After
graduating
from Hope, Keith
earned a Master of
Engineering in Electrical
Engineering
from the University of Detroit. Shortly after,
he took a position with Ford Motor Company, during which he took a three-year
assignment in Hiroshima, Japan working on
engine controls with Mazda. Following that
assignment, he spent four years in Bangalore, India establishing and building a software development center with HewlettPackard. After that, he returned to Detroit
for several years, earning both a Master of
Science in Management and a Master of
Business Administration in International
Business. Last summer, Keith and his family decided to explore a new path and move
to Seattle, where Keith works in the Electri-
cal and Electronic Systems Engineering
Department of Kenworth Truck Company.
For his current position of Engineering Manager, Doorenbos primarily manages the team of 20 that is responsible
for the design and release of all electrical and electronic content for Kenworth
Trucks. A few of Doorenbos’ other responsibilities are instrumentation design, wiring harness design and routing,
power distribution and fusing, and vehicle software development. Doorenbos
enjoys working for Kenworth Truck Company because it is a company known for
its integrity, quality, and continuous
profitability. He also works with a great
team of people and loves that he gets to
work with fun things like electronic toys
and big trucks.
One aspect of Hope that Mr. Doorenbos says prepared him better than others in his field is the research focus that
Hope offers to undergraduate students.
He says, “…[Hope’s research focus] allowed the students to participate as
A B.S. in Physics from Hope College has led
Dr. Cynthia McCollough, class of 1985, to a
profession that she loves and that allows
her to make a difference in people’s lives.
Through her work as a Medical Physicist for
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota,
McCollough enjoys being a part of something noble that is larger than she is on her
own. She says, “[Mayo is] not a place to
just treat patients or make money. It’s
there for the long haul, to be a place of
hope and health and healing.”
Currently McCollough is both Associate
Professor of Radiological Physics and Director of the CT Innovation Center for Mayo
Clinic. Her responsibilities for these positions focus on Computed Tomography
(CT)
imaging.
Among other tasks,
Dr. McCollough routinely tests and
helps to select the
CT scanners that
Mayo buys, helps
plan the installation
and safety tests that
are run on the scanners, and oversees
a team that provides technical support
for all of Mayo’s CT systems. Additionally, she travels to Germany to test prototype machines from the industry partner for the Innovation Center. When the
machines arrive at Mayo, McCollough
tests their performance and assists in
determining the most effective ways to
operate the scanners. Mayo Clinic is at
the forefront of cutting-edge CT imaging,
with systems that can scan the entire
body in under 20 seconds, creating images that correspond to less than a
0.5mm slice of human tissue. Dr.
McCollough stays very busy helping
Mayo develop and test these technologies, but she truly enjoys her work.
After
graduating
from
Hope,
McCollough received an MS in Medical
Physics and a Ph.D. in Medical Physics,
both from the University of Wisconsin,
Madison. She started at Mayo Clinic in
1991 as a Diagnostic Medical Physicist
in the Department of Radiology and has
since remained with Mayo, adding on
new titles and responsibilities over the
years. And although Dr. McCollough’s
college degrees are completed, any
technological field requires continued
education. McCollough continues to
CYNTHIA MCCOLLOUGH
undergraduates at a level that masters
students were lucky to reach in many larger universities.” Through this, Doorenbos got lots of exposure to real lab work
as well as planning and management
tasks. He also appreciates how much he
learned from Hope faculty. He says, “…
sincerity and commitment of the faculty
provided a priceless role model for later
working life.” According to Doorenbos,
Hope students have a lot of great people
to learn from and a lot of opportunities to
put them ahead of others in their field,
and he urges students to take advantage
of these!
Mr. Doorenbos also offers a few other
pieces of guidance to current students.
He says to expect to learn every day of
your life, to enjoy life’s surprises, and to
learn to present your thoughts, beliefs,
and ideas effectively. His last bit of advice contrasts the usual “live today as if it
were your last.” Instead, Doorenbos practically advises students to own up to their
responsibilities: “… never live as if you
won’t be here tomorrow to face the consequences of your actions.”
participate in many
educations
“[The] sincerity
courses to stay
knowledgeable in
and
her field.
McCollough, like
commitment of
many, recognizes
the faculty
that
technical
skills are absoprovided a
lutely necessary in
her career. Howpriceless role
ever, she says that
model for later
people skills are
even more imporworking life.”
tant. A lot of her
job is communicating, teaching, writing, and traveling, so McCollough uses the
core knowledge that she gained from her
liberal arts education extensively. She
says, “… you have to be able to interact
and communicate with a large cast of
specialties, and to lead and inspire those
around you, if you want to impact your
field in a large way.” So, if you do want to
make a difference in your field and the
world keep McCollough’s words of advice
in mind and strive to be not only an excellent scientist, but also an inspired leader.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
Page 5
NEW FACULT Y PROFILES
Jennifer Hampton
I moved to Hope after two years
teaching physics at Washington &
Jefferson College in Washington, PA. I
did my PhD in physics (minor in chemistry) at Cornell University, and postdoctoral research in the chemistry
department at the Pennsylvania State
University. I am a graduate of Oberlin
College in Oberlin, OH. I have been
around the liberal arts college environment from an early age, as my parents teach at the College of Wooster
in Wooster, OH.
the fabrication of metallic thin films
and layered nanostructures. I utilize
and extend scanning probe microscopes and electrochemistry techniques to explore the various facets of
this interdisciplinary research. My current research objectives involve understanding, exploiting, and manipulating the formation processes involved in the electrochemical deposition of metallic thin films. Specifically,
I employ electrodeposition to fabricate
single and multi-component thin films
composed of magnetic and nonmagnetic materials and characterize them
with atomic force microscopy. With
the insight gleaned from this investigation, I will then be able to tailor the
micro/nanoscale structure of these
films for specific applications such as
magnetic read heads in computer
hard drives.
William and
Mary in Williamsburg, VA
in 1993. I
then spent 10
years at ISCO
International
in Elk Grove
Village, IL
where I was
the director of
engineering.
I currently live in Grand Rapids with
my wife, Heather. I have previously
taught in the physics departments at
Calvin College and at Grand Valley
State University. My research focuses
on applications of superconductivity to
high frequency electronics, photonic
crystals, and various other topics in
condensed matter physics. I am also
interested in "Science and Entrepreneurship".
My research interests are at
the interface
of physics,
chemistry,
and materials
science and
are focused
Stephen Remillard
Other interests include languages,
on understanding and I received my BS from Calvin College in specifically French, Japanese and Ko1988, then went on to receive my
controlling
rean.
Ph.D. in Physics from the College of
CURRENT FACULT Y PROFILES
Paul DeYoung
Paul DeYoung received his PhD in
experimental nuclear physics from
the University of Notre Dame and
was a postdoctoral researcher at the
State University of
New York at Stony
Brook before coming
to Hope College. His
research is focused on
heavy ion reactions
and most recently this
has involved studies of
very neutron-rich unstable nuclei. He
and Graham Peaslee head the Nuclear Group at Hope College and
they run experiments at the Michigan State University and Notre
Dame.
Paul, with Graham and the students of
the Nuclear Group, also has an active
program developing applications of
nuclear physics to interdisciplinary
problems. The local particle accelerator is used for forensic characterization
of auto glass, trace metal measurements of individual sand grains, studies of metaloprotein stoichiometry, and
characterization of thin electropolymers.
Peter Gonthier
Peter Gonthier received
his PhD in experimental
nuclear physics from
the Texas A&M University. His current research focuses on high-
energy phenomena in neutron star magnetospheres trying to understand radio and
gamma-ray emission from neutron stars and
inverse Compton scattering occurring in
strong magnetic fields near neutron star
surfaces.
Cathy Mader
Cathy Mader received her Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics from Michigan State
University in 1993. She
came to Hope College in the
fall of 1993. She continues
to do research in the area of
on heavy ion reaction theory
and also is engaged in several physics curriculum development projects.
PHYSICS NEWSLETTER
Page 6
PROFESSOR GONTHIER RESEARCH UPDATE
As GLAST approaches launch at the end of
the year or early next year, improved population studies of radio and gamma-ray
pulsars predicting the numbers and characteristics of gamma-ray pulsars expected
to be detected are at a crucial stage.
We continue to make progress with the
issues associated with the radio beam
geometry and intrinsic physical luminosity
model of neutron stars that are necessary
ingredients for a population synthesis. We
are attempting to constrain the viewing
geometry of radio pulsars whose profiles
contain distinct core and conal components. This study was presented at a recent workshop at NRAO in Green Bank,
WV, where our efforts were applauded,
and we received a great deal of encouragement from radio astronomers. In fact,
it was decided that we will have a population synthesis and a profile fitting challenge. There was a concerted effort to
bring together groups who were doing
similar studies to interact closely and understand differences and similarities of
the outcome
of these
studies. We
believe that
this summer, we will
be able to
have a
much better
handle on
the beam geometry and luminosity.
In addition, Sarah Story spearheaded an
effort to develop the code for the population
study of millisecond pulsars. We were able
to obtain reasonable results with a common
radio beam geometry and luminosity model
for both normal and millisecond pulsars. This study has recently been submitted to ApJ with Sarah as being the lead author.
The training aspects of this project have
been with undergraduate students from
Hope College in part funded by the NSF-REU
and NSF-RUI program. Students from Hope
involved this past year have been: Sarah
Story and Brian Clow. We traveled to Goddard for a 4-week stay to collaborate with
Alice Hardin, during which we attended various seminars give by a variety of scientists
and worked along the side of NASA scientists. We took our own computers and
made significant progress. The rest of the
10-week program was spent at Hope College with Hope students. We also attended
conferences and gave several presentations.
We continue to develop our program to
study the population statistics of radio and
gamma-ray pulsars comparing the detected
and predicted statistics as observed by various instruments. When AGILE and GLAST
are launched, there needs to be an expectation of numbers of radio-quiet and radioloud, gamma-ray pulsars they will ob-
serve. We hope that such observations
will constrain models that describe the
acceleration of electrons and the region in
which it takes place. Our studies also help
to constrain and define the radio emission
geometry of pulsars by pointing out the
need for further refinement, which we are
currently undertaking. We are providing
assistance to the GLAST team with normal
and millisecond pulsars as gamma-ray
sources for them to test their analysis
software.
This summer I mentored an education
student, Stephanie Allen, who has obtained funding from the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute (internal grant). She
obtained a physics major with secondary
education certification to teach physics in
high school and has developed a series of
astronomy modules centered on the topic
of gamma-ray bursts to use in the classroom after the students take their AP
exam to inform and enthuse students. Steph was able to put together a
manual of what and how she intends to
use the program she developed. She presented her work at various meetings
throughout the year.
NUCLEAR GROUP RESEARCH UPDATE
The Hope College Nuclear Group uses
state-of-the-art nuclear physics techniques
to characterize short-lived radioactive
nuclei created with the newest generation
of radioactive nuclear beam facilities. For
example, experiments have recently been
performed at the Nuclear Structure Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame
involving radioactive nuclear beam studies
of 7Be projectiles on 12C targets. Undergraduates were involved in every aspect of
detector fabrication and set-up, data taking and analysis and eventual publication.
The alpha-transfer reactions of this reaction will lead to new insights into the single most important uncertainty remaining
in helium-burning process in stars. We are
also important collaborators in the con-
struction and operation of the Modular Neutron Array (MONA) at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan
State University.
A recent study involves the 6He nucleus.
This research project is part of the larger
goal of understanding the unique 6He nucleus. Recent studies have shown that the
reaction of 6He + 209Bi near the coulomb
barrier produces an unexpectedly large
amount of alpha particles1. Three experiments have been done to gain information
on the different processes that result in this
large alpha production. Previous work done
by Joe Bychowski on the first experiment
indicates that approximately 20% of the
alpha production is due to single neutron
transfer2. The two most recent experiments have made use of the more efficient neutron wall to get more accurate
measurements of the three different alpha production modes in this reaction. It
was determined from these experiments
(Continued on page 7)
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
Page 7
HOPE RECEIVES NEW PARTICLE ACCELERATOR
Hope was given a major grant from the
National Science Foundation (NSF) for a
Pelletron particle accelerator and attached microprobe facility for materials
analysis. According to Dr. Graham
Peaslee, chemistry professor and project
director, only a few dozen other institutions worldwide have comparable equipment, and only two other undergraduate
institutions in the United States.
The services provided by
the Hope
Ion Beam
Accelerator
Laboratory
can be
divided
into three
broad categories.
The first
group of services includes those that are
routine, the second group is made up of
those that are special, and the third group
are those that are experimental or developmental. In general, all of these techniques are non-destructive. The samples
are placed in high vacuum, however, so if
the surface chemistry of the sample is
volatile or otherwise unstable then some
sample degradation may occur.
The accelerator provides beams of protons and helium nuclei at energies of several million electron volts. The attached
microprobe is a magnetic lens system that
focuses the particle beams down to very
small (10-micron) sizes. The beams will
then be directed onto the surface of various materials for analysis. The x-rays or
scattered beam particles that result from
such a bombardment can be used to determine properties of the "target" materials. The beam analysis techniques are
usually non-destructive and provide quantitative information about the elemental
composition and thickness of the materials studied.
and geological and
“Only a few
environmental sciences. Faculty lead
dozen other
projects on this instruinstitutions
ment, but students
work alongside them.
worldwide have
The Accelerator at
Hope is used primarily
comparable
for material characteriequipment, and
zation for both academic and commercial
only two other
audiences. Researchers at Hope College are undergraduate
using the accelerator
institutions in the
in: Geological Studies
(Sand CharacterizaUnited States .”
tion), Paleontological
The specific applications of ParticleStudies(Characterization
Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) spectrome- of a Dinosaur Site), Chemical Studies
try, Rutherford Back Scattering (RBS)
(Electrochemically Produced Biosensors),
analysis and Proton Elastic Scattering
Environmental Studies (Metals in Lake SediAnalysis (PESA) are used to explore new
ment), SemiConductor / Materials Studies,
areas of interdisciplinary research. In light and Forensic Studies (Analysis of Window
of this, several departments use the accel- Glass).
erator lab, including physics, chemistry,
The scientists at the Hope Ion Beam Accelerator Laboratory are also very willing to partner with clients to develop new or improved
measurements. Some examples of possible
services in this category would include Scanning Tunneling Ion Microscopy, oxygen profiling using the oxygen alpha-alpha resonance,
or some combination of the above techniques.
NUCLEAR GROUP RESEARCH UPDATE
(Continued from page 6)
that 55+12% of the alpha production is
due to two neutron transfer.
A primary beam of 7Li with energy 30 MeV
reacts with 2H to form many products,
including 6He with an energy of about 23
MeV. Using the TwinSol magnets 6He is
isolated and then directed towards a secondary target of 209Bi. Because the 6He
has such high energy it is able to get close
enough to 209Bi for their nuclei to interact
with one another. When this reaction
takes place, the 6He often breaks apart
into an alpha and two neutrons. We want
to determine the cross section of the different modes of decay for 6He in this reac-
(CONT)
tion. The particles are detected using two
E v. dE Silicon telescopes. Neutrons are
detected by the neutron wall. We then
look for neutrons and alphas that came
from the same 6He nucleus.
ings, this means that two-neutron and oneneutron transfer account for 75+12% of the
total alpha cross section in this reaction.
More work is being done to determine the
contribution of direct projectile breakup.
Future experiments will look at the forward
To reach our conclusions, neutron-alpha angles.
coincidence events were measured.
Background subtractions were then made Data was collected electronically at Notre
to account for deflected and random neu- Dame and then analyzed later at Hope. The
trons. Comparisons were then made be- goal was to identify events in which both an
tween the coincidence events from alpha- alpha particle and a neutron were detected.
Valid neutron events were selected as seen
particles at different angles.
in the plot of “Position versus Mean Time,”
Using these numbers, we determined that and alpha events are selected in the Si tele55+12% of the alpha cross section at the scopes. Finally, the position and energy of
“grazing angle” is due to two-neutron neutrons in these events was calculated
transfer. Combined with previous find- based on the time of flight of the neutrons.
HOPE COLLEGE PHYSICS
DEPARTMENT
27 Graves Place
Holland, MI
49423
Phone: 616-395-7510
Fax: 616-395-7123
E-mail: physics@hope.edu
http://www.hope.edu/academic/physics/
The First Annual Hope College Physics Department newsletter brings you updates about
recent events in the department as well as a few details about alumni and friends of the
department. We hope to make this newsletter and annual publication. In the future,
however, we plan to distribute the newsletter in electronic form only. We will send the
announcement out through MyHope. You can sign-up for a MyHope account
(myhope.hope.edu) through the alumni association if you haven’t already done so.
If you prefer to receive notification through regular e-mail, please send a brief e-mail to either physics@hope.edu or mader@hope.edu so that we know how to contact you electronically.
While we receive a few requests every year to provide contact information for our alumni, we have not and
will not share your information with other individuals or groups.