Abstract

Although the Quantum Harmonic Oscillator (QHO) is examined with differing levels of rigor in physics and quantum optics, experiments exploring the QHO have not found broad use in classroom demonstration or laboratory instruction. We present a QHO exercise that is rock solid, inexpensive and easily implemented. The QHO system studied is the sulfur anion (S₂)^-, an activator found in over a dozen minerals worldwide. A violet laser illuminates the sample immersed in liquid nitrogen and spectra containing lines evenly spaced in energy are collected. The energy spacing and effective spring constant for the electronic ground state QHO levels are determined. A close examination of the energy difference between consecutive levels reveals anharmonicity in the ground state potential.

© 2019 SPIE, ICO, IEEE, OSA