Light scattering set-up: LS-Instruments, 3DDLS-Pro Spectrometer. This equipment has the special feature of allowing extraction of simple scattering from multiply scattering samples; this enables measurements with rather concentrated samples. It implements the so-called \theta-2\theta strategy to reduce the optical path inside the sample; this is achieved with the aid of a second goniometer and the use of square cells, and maximizes the amount of simple scattering that reaches the detectors. In addition, this second goniometer allows the rotation of the sample in order to obtain ensemble averages for non-ergodic samples, such as crystals, glasses and gels.

Rheometer: Anton-Paar, Model 501 with various geometries (cone-plate, plate-plate, Couette, double Couette) and temperature control (Peltier). The equipment can operate in steady and oscillatory modes; this allows the performance of a wide rage of experiments. In particular, it can perform creep tests, flow experiments and oscillatory experiments in the linear regime, which are all of relevance to study the mechanical properties of dense microgel suspensions.

Optical microscopes:Carl Zeiss, Axio-observer A1, DIC, polarization, various objectives 5x, 10, 40x, 63x, 100x (including long working distance objectives).

High speed and CCD cameras: High speed camera + laptop: Vision Research, Phantom v7.1 Camera (Memory 2 GB ~ 0.6 seconds). High speed camera + laptop: Vision Research, Phantom v9.1 Camera. Digital color CCD camera: Imaging Source, 1280x960 pixel2, 15 frames per second. Two black and white CCD cameras: Imaging Source, 640x480 pixel2, 60 frames per second.

Soft Condensed Matter Laboratory, School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology
837 State Street NW, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0430, USA
Phone: 404-385-3667 Fax: 404-894-9958
alberto.fernandez [at] physics.gatech.edu