Physics

Department of Physics

Established in 2010, the department offers a two year Master’s Program in Physics. With the objective of encouraging the students from remote areas to pursue higher education in Physics the department established a study platform which helps the students to excel in competitive examinations such as CSIR-UGC NET, JEST, K-SET, etc. Thrust areas of the department for research are in the fields of Electronics and Condensed Matter Physics. The lab facilities of the department cater to the needs of the students and research scholars. The department encourages the students to undertake internships in the institutions of repute.

Physics deals with phenomena that range in size from the infinitesimal subatomic particles to the impossibly vast universe, while ordinary existence can be found somewhere in between these two. Physics is about translating a deep understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of Nature into concrete results to benefit society. The Masters’ programme in Physics is designed to educate students to be able to stay at the forefront of fundamental understanding, and to develop practical applications.

Trajectories of the programme at SDM

The goal of Physics for Energy is to apply Physics to create new energy technologies and materials that effectively produce, harvest, convert and store energy. Applying Physics knowledge to the design of sophisticated scientific equipment, detectors and telescopes is known as “Physics for instrumentation”.
Physics for Health and Life uses physical phenomena such as sound, light or particles for producing images with resolutions down to the subcellular scale, nanotechnology to explore and engineer biology, and radiation studies for medical therapies.

Physics for Quantum Devices and Quantum Computing studies quantum phenomena and exploits novel principles in nanostructured devices. The unusual behavior of the quantum world is revealed in delicate experiments, geared towards developing building blocks for devices with unprecedented functionality and scale, especially given current trends in Quantum Computation, Quantum Cryptography etc.

Career opportunities for graduates of the Physics program have excellent employment prospects – in public and private sectors in professions like instrumentation, industrial management, consulting, research and development, and teaching/education. Others decide to enroll in PhD programs to pursue research careers in academia.

Research in Applied Physics has led to the use of electricity and magnetism for lighting and propulsion; given birth to the semiconductor industry that has provided us with the conveniences of modern electronics and has played an important part in the development of biomedical technology, communication, antenna & networking.

Also in line with present-day scenario and current trends, modern applications like Internet of Things, Robotics and Embedded Systems are highly dependent on the knowledge of Electronics.

Highlights of the Department

VGST/K-Fist L1 grant of Rs. 15 lakhs for “Establishment and upgradation of RF/Microwave antenna research laboratory for advanced wireless communication and Bioscience applications” – Ongoing.
DST FIST under “FIST – Program 2020” Level 0 (Rs. 43 lakhs) to establish Instrumentation Centre Research lab.
Spacious, well equipped Laboratories
Popularization of Basic Sciences through outreach activities
Lab in Cab – on the spot demonstration of experiments
Astronomy Club, Electronics Hobby Club and student associations
PCB Fabrication, microcontroller experiments; Synthesis of (& studies on) nanomaterials & thin films
Value added courses – Research Methodology & Computational Techniques
ICT enabled, student centric teaching; focus on student empowerment
Summer research/internship programs
Student forum & co-curricular activities

Facilities

Synthesis and single crystal growth
Nanomaterial synthesis
Spin Coater for thin film deposition
Automated 6″ advanced optical telescope for transient objects’ study & astrophotography
Design, simulation study and characterization of microstrip antenna
Printed Circuit Board fabrication setup
Vector network analyzer and antenna simulation software
Radiation pattern and gain measurement setup
Microwave bench setup with microwave sources (S, C & X bands), VSWR meter
Solid and liquid dielectric cells for dielectric constant measurement

Elective subjects offered by the department

II Semester:
- Basic Nuclear & Radiation Physics
- Applied Solid State Physics
- Physics of the Cosmos
III Semester
- Physics of the Micro World
- Everyday Electronics
- Physics of Sight & Sound

Did You Know ?

“The laws of physics is the canvas God laid down on which to paint his masterpiece”
- Dan Brown

Association & Activities

Community Orientation

Scheme & Syllabus

Research outputs

Faculty

“PHYSIKA”, the Physics Association of the P.G. Physics Dept. was inaugurated in 2012. The objective of Physika – our Physics Association, is to bring together programs and activities in a collective effort to strengthen our understanding of the laws of Nature and broaden our horizons. We aspire to do this by: Organizing Guest Lectures, workshops and seminars from resource persons in the relevant fields. Facilitating and conducting Science exhibitions and laboratory demonstrations to propagate the scientific temperament. Scheduling video lectures/interactions with experts and group discussions to savour the subject outside prescribed academic syllabi. Organizing Scientific and Industrial tours to get hands-on experience of the subject beyond classroom teaching. Bringing out a bi-monthly “wall magazine”, the aim of which is dissemination of subject knowledge independent of pedagogy. Conducting inter-department and inter-collegiate quiz/debate and other competitions.

DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCE

2019

Celebration of National Science Day“Physika” the association of PG Physics department celebrated National Science Day on 28th Feb. On this occasion, the department conducted inter-department competitions based on Science in daily life. On same occasion the wall magazine was released on the theme of this year’s Science Day “Science for the People and the people for Science”.
Prof. Raveesha from CMRIT, Bangalore was the resource person for a lecture /experiment demonstrations on 1st May on “Innovations in simple experiments and design of apparatus”.
Prof. T. N.Keshava, Former Principal, SDM College, Ujire gave a guest lecture on the topic “Chandrayaan– 2”, on 22nd August.
Alumni Interaction program: Mr. Rahul, S., Mr. Ranjith Kumar and Mr. Karthik, Y. R., our proud alumni (2015-2017) currently pursuing Ph.D. at PPISR, Bangalore. They interacted with students about their research, current development and scope for future works.

2018

One-day educational trip to Pilikula Nisarga Dhama, Vamanjoor, Mangalore, on 2nd March for our first and second M.Sc. students. A show organized by Swami Vivekananda Planetarium and science and technology related practical demonstrations, followed by a visit to Pilikula Biological Park.
One-day workshop on 03rd March for SDM final year B.Sc. students on Printed Circuit Board conducted by Dr. Sahana, K.
Guest lecture on 05th March titled “A Journey of the helm of Universe” by Prof. A. P. Bhat, renowned astrophysicist & HOD of Physics, Poorna Prajna College, Udupi.
Guest talk on 08th March by Mr. Lakshmi Narayana, Schema Zen Technologies Pvt. Ltd. on hardware board design and product design training hub. This is the training and research center, which give placement assistance to our students and also project for final year students.
Prof. Sahana, K. of the dept. conducted Two days’ workshop on “Printed Circuit Boards” for final year Electronics and communication students of SDM Technical Institute (Polytechnic) College, Ujire, on 25th and 26th Sept.
Guest lecture by Dr. Ravindra Shetty, Managing Director, Agent Technology Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore on “Industrial opportunities for M.Sc. Physics” followed by an interaction session. On the same occasion, Mr. Narasimha Shenoy, Senior Principal Engineer, UTC Aerospace Systems, Bangalore, addressed the students and he gave a brief talk on “Skill Enhancement and Innovation techniques”.
Guest lecture on 08/09/2018. The resource person Dr. Praveen, K. C., Sci/Engg-D, Working at LEOS (ISRO), Bangalore, delivered a talk on “ISRO and its hierarchy, job opportunities at ISRO”. He also gave start up ideas for I and II year M.Sc. Physics students after M.Sc. to step into ISRO.

2017

Two-day Science Academies’ Lecture-Workshop on “Topology in Condensed Matter Physics” on 2nd & 3rd March. The program was sponsored by Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, and The National Academy of Sciences, India, Allahabad. Resource persons were Prof. Chandan Dasgupta, Prof. Arindam Ghosh, Prof. Vijay, B. Shenoy & Prof. Subroto Mukerjee – all from Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
Guest lecture on 08th Sept by Prof. Ajith, K. M., Dept. of Physics, NITK Surathkal on the topic: “Dirac delta function and Fourier transformation in Physics”.
Guest lecture on 21st Sept. on the topic “Renewable Energy sources: Solar Energy” by Dr. H. Naganagouda, Director, National Training Center for Solar Technology, Karnataka Power Corporation Limited.
Guest Lecture session on Continuous Wave Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (CW EPR), instrumentation and applications on 20th Nov. The resource person was Dr. Balachandra Hegde, Associate Professor at Rani Channamma University, Belgaum. Mr. Pratheek, our alumnus and currently research student of Dr. Hegde accompanied him.

The Dept. also has a Hobby Club for Electronics enthusiasts called ElectroHub. Its aims & objectives are:

To construct & demnstrate electronics-based hobby projects/products.
To motivate & create exposure in various avenues of hardware & software domains in electronics.
To enrich knowledge & awareness in technical & technological aspects.
To cater to various needs in keeping pace with the ever evolving field of electronics.