Marcus W. Montisano
Energy Measurement of Electron Beams from a Pyroelectric Crystal Accelerator
This project represents work I did after my freshman year of college as a Student Researcher in Dr. Yoder's lab for a summer internship position. At this point in my academic career, I had no skills, so this experience was pivot in helping me develop my experimental and hands-on fabrication knowledge. Our research was presented at the 2019 Landmark Conference Summer Research Symposium during a poster session. It was later presented by Tes DeJaeger at the 2020 American Physical Society regional conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics at the University of Maryland and was awarded the Best Poster honor.
Group
PI: Dr. Rodney Yoder
Student Researchers: Marcus Montisano, Tes DeJaeger
Date
May 2019 - July 2019
Location
Goucher College
Objective
Research, calibrate, simulate, and implement a solenoidal directional steering system to direct the emitted electron beam from a miniature particle accelerator onto a desired phosphor target.
Role
Over the course of the summer, I took the lead on experimental logistics, while Tes took the lead on simulation. I coded and updated serve VI's in LabVIEW to monitor system parameters like voltage, pressure, and the thermal cycling of the pyroelectric crystal. Additionally, I created a (in hindsight rudimentary) CAD model of the experimental configuration in TinkerCAD using provided drawings and self-taken measurements. The CAD model allowed our team to prototype different brackets using 3D printing.
Reflection
This research taught me "hands-on" skills that would later be crucial in engineering school like basic shop training, taking hand measurements, computer aided design, tapping and drilling holes, and 3D printing. I also had my first experiences coding, designing experiments to collect data on the magnetic fields produced by the solenoids, correlating data, and presenting research to a technical audience.
