Description

The Physics Department offers two graduate degrees:

• Master of Science (MS) in Physics, and
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Physics

The Physics Department started offering MS in Physics in 1980, and Ph.D. in Physics in 2012.

Many factors make the Physics Department at KFUPM a great choice for pursing graduate studies. It has a highly qualified faculty members with diverse research background with most of them graduated from highly reputed international universities. The department offers a caring and friendly learning environment for both local and international students. It offers a wide variety of general and specialized physics courses, which help students to perform well in their research. The department has well-equipped research facilities in many areas of physics. In addition, as a leading technical institute in the area with well-established academic departments and research centers, KFUPM offers many opportunities to conduct advanced interdisciplinary research.

Teaching and Research Facilities

The Department of Physics has modern research laboratories supporting the teaching and research activities of its graduate programs. These include the following:

Laser Research Laboratory

Laser Research Laboratory is housed in five spacious rooms and was established more than 25 years ago. It is equipped with different modern lasers, spectroscopic and analytical tools which enable its researchers to carry out advanced applied and basic research in the field of laser. The tools that are available include supersonic jet spectroscopy, laser breakdown spectroscopy, photo-acoustic spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, time resolved spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, cavity ring down spectroscopy, and pulsed laser deposition.

Nuclear Physics Laboratory

Nuclear Physics Laboratory is built around a 350 keV ion accelerator and a portable D-D neutron generator. Present research focuses on prompt gamma neutron activation analysis of industrial and environmental samples using a variety of gamma detectors.

Radiation Protection Laboratory

A variety of radiation detection instruments and radiation sources are available in the Radiation Protection Laboratory. The radiation detection instruments include liquid scintillation counter; ion chamber survey meters; gamma scintillation/Geiger Muller survey meters; neutron survey meter; and nuclear track detection system. The nuclear sources include Am-Be neutron sources; Co-60 gamma sources; Cs-137 gamma sources; and Ra-226 alpha/gamma sources.

Superconductivity Laboratory

The superconductivity Laboratory houses a 9-Tesla vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), magneto-transport and AC-susceptibilities set-up as well as a facility to grow single crystals. Magnetic properties of superconductors, nanoparticles, oxides, alloys and glasses are routinely studied in this lab. Phase slip and vortex states in superconductors are also investigated.

Surface Science and Advanced Materials Laboratory

The researchers in the Surface Science Laboratory investigate surface properties of materials with the help of a variety of instruments including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray diffractometer, and atomic force microscope. Furthermore, the laboratory possesses homemade magnetron dc-sputtering systems for thin film synthesis and a computer controlled gas sensing set up.

Thin Film Laboratory

The Thin Film Laboratory has a variety of thin film deposition and characterization instruments. The deposition instruments include a thermal evaporation unit, pulsed laser deposition unit, DC/RF magnetron sputtering unit, and Dip coating unit. The characterization instruments include spectrophotometer, spectrofluorometer, photoluminescence unit, a Hall-effect system, atomic force microscopy, a stylus profilometer. In addition, the Laboratory has an automated thin-film gas sensing system and a number of furnaces for annealing.

Supporting Facilities

The research laboratories are supported by mechanical and electronic which are run by trained technicians.

The PhD Program in Physics is designed to prepare students for professional carriers in Physics and related fields. Candidates are expected to pursue a course of study and research that will give them greater comprehension and mastery of basic theoretical and experimental physics. Students in this program will be either theoretically or experimentally oriented, depending on the type of research they would like to pursue. Active research in the department of physics is carried out in the following areas:

• Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Nuclear Physics

Experimental or theoretical research can be pursued in any of the above areas.

Program Admission Requirements

Department Physics Department