Some thoughts

So on the last day, we set up the heat press inside the vacuum chamber and found some LDPE, HDPE, and PTFE.

PTFE, or teflon, is the coat of plastic that posseses anti-reflective (AR) properties.* HDPE (high density polyethlyene) gives the AR coat/window stability in the vacuum. And LDPE (low density polyethlyene) functions as the "adhesive" for the HDPE and PTFE.

(*see the first post for more details about AR windows and this project)

LDPE melts at about 120 degrees C, while HDPE at 130 and PTFE at 330. So we let the heat press warm to about 125 degrees C. Everything worked out pretty well, except for one thing: in the spirit of being an amateurish, undergraduate intern, I had reversed the order of LDPE ad HDPE. So instead of getting a nice HDPE-PTFE-HDPE sandwhich, the LDPE just melted onto the heat plate since I had placed the sheets as the outermost layer. But the good thing is that the LDPE melted, and the other two plastics didn't. So I guess we'll look more into this in the Fall.

It's pretty remarkable how it took half a summer to reach this point. I've definitely learned a lot. I'm interested in astrophysical instrumentation so this is pretty much the summer work experience I was looking for: tinkering with electronics, burning myself, and occasionally blowing things up.

I would like to thank Dr. Ross Williamson for being my mentor, and the Columbia WEP program for making this summer possible.

I am looking forward to continuing the next phase of this project in the Fall Semester.