2026 Segré Interns Vivian Frisk and John Ciavarra fabricate components for Physics 111 Laboratory experiments in the Physics Student Machine Shop.
This summer, Segré Interns John Ciavarra and Vivian Frisk are upgrading several of the Physics 111 Laboratory's advanced experiments, helping make them more reliable, interactive, and engaging for incoming students.
John is leading major improvements to the Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) and Magneto-Optical and Nonlinear Spectroscopy (MNO) experiments. For the MOT, he is upgrading the laser control system with a DAVLL rubidium spectroscopy setup and expanding the trap's analog control capabilities. For the MNO experiment, he is rebuilding the apparatus from the ground up, creating a rubidium saturated absorption spectroscopy system and demonstrating near-resonant magneto-optical rotation of polarized laser light. He is also contributing to the Optical Pumping (OPT) experiment by helping develop a Helmholtz magnetic field to enable precise control of atomic energy levels.
Vivian is building a new Optical Pumping (OPT) experiment from scratch, designing and machining its mechanical framework, implementing the electronic controls, and configuring the atomic sample. She is also collaborating with John to upgrade the Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT), refurbishing the Nonlinear Dynamics Chaos (NLD) experiment to make it more interactive for students, and restoring the Beta Ray Spectrometer (BRS) by machining replacement parts in the Physics Student Machine Shop. In addition, she is fabricating a microscope stage for the Optical Trapping Laser Tweezers (OTZ) experiment and updating software for the Brownian Motion in Cells (BMR) apparatus and other laboratory experiments.
Together, their work is upgrading the 111 Lab and improving the hands-on experience for future Berkeley Physics students.