DEPARTMENT OF
PHYSICS
“Physics
is a basis of
technology.“
C T U in Pr ague, Facul t y o f Mechanic al Engineer ing
Depar t men t o f Physic s
Technická 4, 166 07 Pr ague 6, C zech Republic
Phone: +420 224 352 429
E - mail: Pe t r.V lc ak@ f s.c v u t.c z
h t tp://f y zika.f s.c v u t.c z /
Ing. Petr Vlčák, Ph.D.
Head of the Department
Exceptional Performance
The Department of Physics
is the smallest department
of the Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering.. The department,
however, has one of the largest
scientific and research outputs
per staff member. Members
of the department staff occupy
the first four places in the allfaculty assessment according
to the h-factor, significantly ahead of other members of the faculty staff.
The Department of Physics intensely cooperates in scientific and research
issues with the biggest international nuclear research institutes in Geneva
(CERN) and Dubna (Russia).
Education
The department provides letures on subjects based on physics in the bachelor, master and doctoral study programmes. All student must attend a basic course which comprises also laboratory training and is completed with
a seminar on training problems which are contained in the written part
of the exam. This course is accredited also in English and can be attended both
by Czech and foreign exchange or self-paid students.
The equipment of the laboratory is continuously modernized in order to enable the students to get acquainted with state of the art technical methods
and procedures.
The department also provides lectures on a number of optional subjects
which are a continuation of the basic course and extend the knowledge
gained there with practical applications.
The department offers interesting topics for doctoral study and has already
educated a number of
experts who are active both in research
and practical work
experience. Students
of the doctoral study
programme are involved in research at
the department and
achieve herein excellent results.
Practice in physics in a laboratory
Semiconductor Detectors and Nuclear Physics
The Department of Physics cooperates with the United Institute of Nuclear Physics
in Dubna (Russia) on detectors for the “Hypercore“ experiment, which should contribute to a more profound understanding
of nuclear forces acting between nucleons. The picture shows a chamber
developed at the department for a
scintillation detector of particle paths
after hypercore decay.
The department cooperated intensely in the ATLAS project at CERN
aimed at fundamental study of the
nature of mass.
Silicon avalanch photodiodes (SPAD)
developed in cooperation with faculties of the Czech Technical University in Prague
are used in the design of sensors for detecting individual photons. Such detectors
are used in applications where their exceptional properties, above all picosecond
temporal resolution and higher resistance to ionizing radiation, are utilized. Such
an application is namely the laser measurement of the distance between satellites and displacement of continents. These detectors are used in several tens
of rangefinder stations all over the world. The global network of laser rangefinders
together with special geodetic satellites continously provide data for cosmic geodesy. The picture shows the measured vectors of motion of individual measuring
stations with respect to the geocentric reference framework.
The diodes and detectors in which they are used work in several orbital and planetary missions. The picture shows a satellite of the Chinese navigation system
Compass. The arrow points to the place where the SPAD can be found on board
the satellite where it serves for laser synchronizing of the on-board clock. The
system is in orbit since 2011.
The staff members of the department
also developed dosemeters of charges
of fast electrons designed namely for
checking devices for personal anti-radiation protection.
DEPARTMENT OF
PHYSICS
Methods of Modification of Surface
Layers of Materials
The Department of Physics develops methods of modification of surface
layers of materials with ion and electron beams. Concerned are namely
methods of ion implantation and ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD).
These methods have a number of variants, e.g LE IBAD (Low-Energy IBAD
with ions with an energy of the order of hundreds of eV, and HE IBAD (HighEnergy IBAD with ions with an energy of tens of keV). The IBAD method
comprises a number of partial processes or accompanying effects. The basic partial processes are deposition of atoms (most often by sputtering or
evaporation by an electron beam) and ion bombardment. The bombarding
ions can be backscatterd from the deposited atoms or atoms of the original material back into the vacuum chamber. During collisions the accelerated ions can transfer sufficient energy to enable them to penetrate into
the surface layer of the modified material (recoil implantation).
The collision cascades of the acclerated ions with the deposited ions and
atoms of the original material can also lead to ion sputtering. If the bombarding ions are not backscattered into the vacuum chamber they are builtin (implanted) in the deposited layer or in the original material. The fundamental process parameter of the IBAD method is the ratio of the density
of flow of bombarding ions and that of the deposited atoms.
Thermophysical Properties and Special
Cooling Systems for Electronics
In relation with research in
the thermophysical properties of fluids the department is
engaged in the issue of special
cooling systems for electronics with a high degree of integration of partial elements.
Included in the research is also
comprehensive measurement
of the speed of sound in gases
and modification of the sonar
experimental appliance into
an equipment which in addition would enable to perform
analyses of the composition
of gas mixtures and possibly
also of flow. The quality of data
is compared with that gained
from simulation calculations
of thermodynamic properties
based on Monte Carlo methods
and molecular dynamics.
Tests with RP-type detector at CERN
The department was involved in the investigation of a number of projects namely focused on detectors of elementary particles for the LHC accelerator at CERN.
The department successfully participated in a programme dealing with the
creation of a concept and
construction of the cooling system for an internal
detector within the scope
of the ATLAS project. Another successful project
was a fully materialized
system for the TOTEM
project for RP (Roman
Pots)-type detectors.
Roman Pots as installed in sector 8-1 of the LHC tunnel,
240 metres from the ATLAS Interaction Point.
Device for ion implanation and HE IBAD method
The Department of Physisc participated in the implementation of the
above methods in the successful investigation of an extensive Framework
Programme of the EU in which 25 institutions from Europe and Israel were
involved. A number of universities, scientific and research institutions
and large supranational companies such as Siemens, Saint-Gobain and
Edwards participated in the investigation of this project. The project was
coordinated by the multinational steel producing corporation Arcelor.
Device for LE IBAD method
Recently the department
has to considerable extent contributed to implementations within the scope
of the ALICE and LHCb ptojects. During the last three years the department has
developed a mobile system in a uniquely modified version with whirl tubes using air as the cooling medium.
Due to a significant share of experimental work in the projects the department
designs and develops automated systems for data collection including special
sensorics (measuring detectors/sensors) and control systems.
Detail of compressor unit with Sonar-type flowmeter (ATLAS)