Since 2015, I have introduced smartphone-based optics projects in my "Introduction to Modern Optics" (PHYS3330) classes at the University of Georgia. Students, working in pairs, designed optical projects using smartphones and inexpensive materials like household items, LEGO blocks, or 3D-printed components, with each project costing under $30. They chose topics from a list or proposed their own ideas, and after discussing the feasibility with me, they had about a month to prepare a project proposal. This detailed their objective, apparatus design, calibration plan, and experimental approach. After receiving feedback, teams had 1 to 1.5 months to complete their projects, including experimental setup, data collection, analysis, and final reporting. Between 2015 and 2019, 33 projects were completed, some showcased on the "UGA Modern Optics: Smartphone Projects" YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDNH_mEXvy-Rp98ri96EuLw).

      In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the class shifted to remote labs. Students received a package containing essential lab materials, such as laser diodes, polarizer sheets, glass slides, cuvettes, and gratings. They conducted experiments remotely, demonstrating Malus' law, measuring optical rotation, exploring angle-dependent reflection/transmission, determining Brewster’s angle, measuring paper thickness via interference, and deducing unknown grating spacing and hair diameter through diffraction. Despite different setups, students' results were surprisingly consistent, highlighting the adaptability and creativity in their experiments.  

       Now all the projects have been composed into a new book entitled "Use of Smartphones in Optical Experimentation." published by SPIE Press. The book is available to be downloaded free of charge at SPIE.org.

      From 2021 to 2024, the Optics Projects have expanded to cover more advanced and application-oriented topics, and are not limited to smartphone. These include modular optical tweezers systems, handheld UV-Vis/IR spectrometers, Raman spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance, optical lithography, circular dichroism, Fourier optics, holography, and speckle analysis. Several projects have focused on real-world applications such as microplastics detection, biomolecular diagnostics, and milk/vegitable oil quality assessment. The assignment now explicitly incorporates resources from the SPIE textbook and emphasizes original innovation that goes beyond previous work. Students are expected to conduct literature reviews, design detailed calibration and data analysis protocols, and use Python or other software tools for quantitative interpretation.