Dr John Debs
Ph.D (Physics), B.Sc (Nanotechnology)
Senior Lecturer & Director, ANU MakerSpace
ANU College of Science
Areas of expertise
- Curriculum And Pedagogy 1302
- Other Education 1399
- Lasers And Quantum Electronics 020502
- Atomic And Molecular Physics 020201
- Degenerate Quantum Gases And Atom Optics 020601
- Classical And Physical Optics 020501
- Quantum Optics 020604
Biography
Dr Debs is a passionate educator and researcher with a background in Ultra Cold Atomic Phyiscs, and Innovative Physics education. He convenes the nationally recognised course, Foundations of Physics, where students are taught to "think like a physicist". He is also founder and Director of the ANU MakerSpace, a community and place on campus for student and staff to learn by doing, and access tools and resources to build and make anything from artwork to electonics. Dr. Debs has received several education awards, including an Australian Award for University Teaching Excellence in 2017, and the Australian Institute of Physics Education Medal in 2022.
Researcher's projects
- Virtual Reality for Physics and STEM Education.
- The ANU MakerSpace: Openly accessible makerspaces in higher education.
Available student projects
Virtual Reality for Physics and STEM Education
We are looking for students from STEM, arts, and social science backgrounds who are interested in various aspects of Virtual Reality for education.
Potential projects range from develoment of new apps for education, through to educational and social research around efficacy of VR in Physics Education, as well as perceptions and societal impacts.
Publications
- Debs, J 2021, 'Scalable and Effective Use of Virtual Reality for Physics Education', The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education 2021, ed. Cristina Varsavsky, Australian Council of Deans of Science, Online, p. 17.
- Debs, J & Wigley, P27, 2019, 'Virtual reality for physics education', The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, ed. Professor Manjula Devi Sharma, Open Conference Systems, University of Sydney, Sydney.
- Hardman, K, Everitt, P, McDonald, G et al 2016, 'Simultaneous Precision Gravimetry and Magnetic Gradiometry with a Bose-Einstein Condensate: A High Precision, Quantum Sensor', Physical Review Letters, vol. 117, no. 13, pp. -.
- Noschang Kuhn, C, McDonald, G, Hardman, K et al 2014, 'A Bose-condensed, simultaneous dual-species Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer', New Journal of Physics, vol. 16, no. 2014, pp. 073035/ 1-15.
- McDonald, G, Noschang Kuhn, C, Hardman, K et al 2014, 'Bright solitonic matter-wave interferometer', Physical Review Letters, vol. 113, no. 1, pp. 1-5.
- McDonald, G, Noschang Kuhn, C, Bennetts, S et al 2014, 'A faster scaling in acceleration-sensitive atom interferometers', Europhysics Letters, vol. 105, no. 6, p. 63001.
- Hardman, K, Noschang Kuhn, C, McDonald, G et al 2014, 'Role of source coherence in atom interferometery', Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, vol. 89, no. 2, p. 023626.
- Bennetts, S, McDonald, G, Hardman, K et al 2014, 'External cavity diode lasers with 5kHz linewidth and 200nm tuning range at 1.55μm and methods for linewidth measurement', Optics Express, vol. 22, no. 9, pp. 10642-10654.
- Hardman, K, Bennetts, S, Debs, J et al 2014, 'Construction and characterization of external cavity diode lasers for atomic physics', Journal of Visualized Experiments, vol. 86, no. 86.
- Debs, J, Hardman, K, Altin, P et al 2013, 'From apples to atoms: measuring gravity with ultra cold atomic test masses', Preview, vol. 164, pp. 30-33.
- McDonald, G, Keal, H, Altin, P et al 2013, 'Optically guided linear Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer', Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, vol. 87, no. 1, p. 5.
- Altin, P, Johnsson, M, Negnevitsky, V et al 2013, 'Precision atomic gravimeter based on Bragg diffraction', New Journal of Physics, vol. 15.
- McDonald, G, Noschang Kuhn, C, Bennetts, S et al 2013, '80hk momentum separation with Bloch oscillations in an optically guided atom interferometer', Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, vol. 88, no. 5, pp. 053620 (1-5).
- Robins, N, Altin, P, Debs, J et al 2013, 'Atom lasers: Production, properties and prospects for precision inertial measurement', Physics Reports: Review Section of Physics Letters, vol. 529, no. 3, pp. 265-296.
- Debs, J, Robins, N & Close, J 2013, 'Measuring mass in seconds', Science, vol. 339, pp. 532-533
- Sane, S, Bennetts, S, Debs, J et al 2012, '11 W narrow linewidth laser source at 780nm for laser cooling and manipulation of Rubidium', Optics Express, vol. 20, no. 8, pp. 8915-8919.
- Szigeti, S, Debs, J, Hope, J et al 2012, 'Why momentum width matters for atom interferometry with Bragg pulses', New Journal of Physics, vol. 14, pp. 1-23.
- Debs, J, Altin, P, Barter, T et al 2011, 'Cold-atom gravimetry with a Bose-Einstein condensate', Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, vol. 84, no. 3, p. 5.
- Altin, P, Dennis, G, McDonald, G et al 2011, 'Collapse and three-body loss in a 85Rb Bose-Einstein condensate', Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, vol. 84, no. 3, p. 6.
- Altin, P, McDonald, G, Doering, D et al 2011, 'Addendum: Optically trapped atom interferometry using the clock transition of large 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensates', New Journal of Physics, vol. 13, no. 119401, p. 11.
- Altin, P, McDonald, G, Doering, D et al 2011, 'Optically trapped atom interferometry using the clock transition of large 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensates', New Journal of Physics, vol. 13, pp. 1-21.
- Debs, J, Altin, P, Barter, T et al 2011, 'Comparing thermal and lasing atomic sources for precision inertial measurement', 2011 International Quantum Electronics Conference, IQEC 2011 and Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, CLEO Pacific Rim 2011, IEEE, Australia, pp. 2082-2084.
- Szigeti, S, Debs, J, Hope, J et al 2011, 'Why MomentumWidth Matters for Atom Interferometry', Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/Pacific Rim CLEOPR 2011, IEEE, Sydney Australia, pp. 2085-2087.
- McDonald, G, Altin, P, Doering, D et al 2011, 'Optically trapped atom interferometry using the clock transition of large rubidium-87 bose-einstein condensates', Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/Pacific Rim CLEOPR 2011, IEEE, Sydney Australia, pp. 116-118.
- McDonald, G, Altin, P, Doering, D et al 2011, 'Optically trapped atom interferometry using the clock transition of large rubidium-87 bose-einstein condensates', Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/Pacific Rim CLEOPR 2011, IEEE, Sydney Australia, pp. 116-118pp.
- Doering, D, McDonald, G, Debs, J et al. 2010, 'Quantum projection noise limited interferometry with coherent atoms in a Ramsey type setup', Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, vol. 81, no. 4, pp. 043633-1/8.
- Altin, P, Robins, N, Doering, D et al. 2010, '85Rb tunable-interaction Bose-Einstein condensate machine', Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 81, no. 6, pp. 63103-63103.
- Debs, J, Doering, D, Altin, P et al. 2010, 'Experimental comparison of Raman and rf outcouplers for high-flux atom lasers', Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 013618/1-7.
- Altin, P, Robins, N, Poldy, R et al. 2010, 'Measurement of inelastic losses in a sample of ultracold 85Rb', Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 012713,1-4.
- Doering, D, Debs, J, Robins, N et al. 2009, 'Ramsey interferometry with an atom laser', Optics Express, vol. 23, no. 17, p. 8.
- Schultz, J, Abend, S, Doring, D et al. 2009, 'Coherent 455nm beam production in a cesium vapor', Optics Letters, vol. 34, no. 15, pp. 2321-2323.
- Debs, J, Doering, D, Robins, N et al. 2009, 'A two-state Raman coupler for coherent atom optics', Optics Express, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 1-7.
- Debs, J, Ebendorff-Heidepreim, H, Quinton, J et al 2009, 'A Fundamental Study Into the Surface Functionalization of Soft Glass Microstructured Optical Fibers via Silane Coupling Agents', Journal of Lightwave Technology, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 576-582.
- Debs, J, Robins, N, Lance, A et al 2008, 'Piezo-locking a diode laser with saturated absorption spectroscopy', Applied Optics, vol. 47, no. 28, pp. 5163-5166.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- Virtual Realities for Physics and STEM education (Primary Investigator)
- Science Circus Pacific 2018 (Secondary Investigator)
- 2017 Award for Teaching Excellence (Primary Investigator)
- Novel approaches to atom interferometer inertial measurements (Secondary Investigator)
- TechBroker Project (Primary Investigator)
- 2015 Award For Teaching Excellence (Primary Investigator)
- DSTO Post Doctoral Fellowship (Secondary Investigator)
