Life Of An Experimental Physicist: An Overview

I spent most of my first week at work in my office either reading papers or doing calculations. The time I didn’t spend in my office was spent in lab watching other graduate students run experiments in an attempt to learn optical spectroscopy. Then last week, I put on those fancy safety goggles and did some real science with my own two hands.

Random incidents/scattered thoughts:

1. In one of the labs, the gas pipelines are fairly high up on the wall. I’m the only person in lab who can’t reach them, so they had to get a two-step stool for me. If I stand on the two-step stool on my tippy toes, I can barely reach them. Conclusion: Germans are tall; Numa is short.

2. Almost everyone in my lab is German or can speak German fluently so unless they’re specifically talking to me, everyone always constantly talks in German. One of the graduate students apologized to me for constantly talking in German saying “we don’t know how to talk to girls in English.” I want to know if they would speak in English more if I was a guy.

3. Since they primarily talk in German, I have gotten some of the most interesting Physics explanations in English when they can’t remember certain English words. I’ve gotten things explained to me as a “lollipop” and an “airplane.”

4. My lab group loves to eat. Someone brings different snacks every day. I’m kind of okay with them not talking to me much as long as they keep bringing delicious food. Today, we had four different kinds of cake and strawberry pie.

5. I have spent most of my time in lab playing with liquid nitrogen and/or liquid helium, and I literally mean playing. No safety. Much science.

6. Last week when I was using liquid nitrogen and liquid helium to cool quantum dots for spectroscopic measurements, there was a small leak in the liquid helium tank which froze almost everything in lab. It was literally like ice age in there.

7. Universität-Würzburg makes its own liquid helium instead of buying it. Last week, they showed me how to make liquid helium. There are helium boats! HELIUM BOATS!

7. The 2014 FIFA World Cup is a huge deal for my lab group. While talking to one of the graduate students in lab, I expressed my excitement for the World Cup and that was the moment they finally accepted me as a lab member. He then told me a story about how they met some Canadians earlier who didn’t know that the World Cup was happening since it didn’t have anything to do with ice hockey. We are playing an “online betting game” and placing bets on all the matches. Winner gets half the money and the other half is used for a barbecue.

8. All the equipment and all the programs are in German. I spent more time trying to figure out the German program for taking spectroscopic measurements than actually taking spectroscopic measurements.

Till I do more real science, chüs!a

---

Translation of German words:
a. Bye!

How Silicon {Most} Solar Cells Work

Once upon a time, there were two pieces of crystal silicon. The negatively charged electrons inside were very happy, snuggled in positively charged “holes.” This made the crystal silicon happy and neutral on all matters electric.

One day, a physicist took the two pieces and “doped” them, which is to say she {my physicists are always girls} coated each of them with a solution of phosphorous and boron, respectively. Now phosphorous has an abundance of electrons, while boron has too few. Suddenly, the crystal silicon pieces were unbalanced and decidedly on opposing sides: the sides of N {negative} and P {positive}.

The physicist then put the two pieces together with a thin wafer of N Type silicon between, creating a junction. The homeless electrons were eager to cross the border and jump into the P Type silicon. There was a mad rush, and the realtors worked overtime as electrons found new holes and moved in. However, the rush had an interesting, and as yet unforeseen, effect. As a metropolis sprung up, something began to occur on the junction: an electric field. A diode, if we are being particularly scientific.

No electron could have said what havoc this diode would cause. No electron foresaw the coming sunlight.

Sunlight is made of energy. Little packets of energy, called photons. They come in varying amounts, but, when the amount is just right, they are particularly adept at shaking electrons out of their little holes. They are hot, bright packets of pure earthquake.

The physicist put the crystal silicon in sunlight. {Well, she actually used a synthetic light. But that is not half as interesting.} The photons arrived.

The electrons could not withstand the shaking and bounced out of their holes. And this was when the effects of the diode were fully felt. The diode grabbed the shaken electrons and pushed them toward the N Type silicon, where all the holes were filled. As for the now-empty holes, the diode slid them toward the P Type silicon. It is safe to say that the real estate market crashed.

But the physicist had a shred of pity--or science--in her heart. She connected the N Type silicon, with its abundance of clamoring, homeless electrons, to a P Type metal. With a cheer, the electrons hurried towards it and all the new holes that awaited them.

Their journey took place on a wire. The physicist monitored it carefully, for the speed of the electrons was something called a Current. This Current was directly related to the number of electrons that passed by per second. And as the electrons left their holes behind, not knowing that the holes were taking a similar journey away from the P Type silicon, the difference between positive and negative charge grew--this was something called Voltage.

Voltage multiplied with Current equals Power.

It would not be quite accurate to say that the physicist attached both wires to a light bulb and filled the room with light. She is not an engineer, she is a resesarch experimentalist, and so she simply connects things to a computer and watches the graph of Current vs. Voltage take shape.

But in the interest of artistic license, she attached the wires to a light bulb, created a closed circuit, and smiled in the soft yellow glow of successful science.

I Have Been Assigned

I've worked an entire week. It's a new thing for me, actually. Here is your desk, here is your key, here is your computer. I've never done an 8-hours-a-day something in my life; I'm used to switching pursuits throughout the day. Go to this class, finish that homework, study for that one quiz. Now I have a chair.

On Monday, they gave me a paper to read because the lab was chaotic--my professor is also a dean, so he has a college {or department, I'm not really sure} to keep up with--and no one seemed to know quite what to do with me. I use paper in the loosest possible way, however. It was technically a Review {I did not know until this week that such things existed}, and it was 29 pages long. Twenty-nine pages of really big words. It took me two days to read.

The Review was written by my professor and another professor who is very involved in our group. It was about the making of solar cells using organic {as opposed to synthetic} substances, which was a little frustrating to read when I wasn't even sure I would be working with solar cells this summer! However, the minute I got to the last page of the paper, a bachelor student stopped by my office and asked if I wanted to observe the making of a solar cell.

Um, yeah!

I spent the next few days dividing my time between even more papers and watching the creation of a solar cell. We basically take a square of glass about the size of your thumbnail and proceed to layer it with several solutions and substances. Scientifically, we are separating electrons {negatively charged} from their cozy, positive little homes--called "holes"--and making it difficult for them to rejoin. The input of photons from sunlight makes it even harder for them to get back, so they do a lot of work. We convert that work into energy, and viola! Sun-generated electricity.

Basically.

And ideally.

And yeah, that was the brief and Melody version. Once I understand it better, I'll write a more comprehensive post about it. {One does not understand something until one can explain it in one's own words, methinks.}

I heartily recommend the method of interspersing lab time with paper time. The latter part of this week has been a constant alternating of squinting at papers, observing in the lab, and returning to the papers to realize that I actually know what's going on. It definitely speeds up the learning curve process. The people here know that, too. They truly want me to actually understand things; they're all cheering for me, and I never feel any sort of low expectation since I'm just an undergraduate.

Yesterday, I attended my first group meeting. I was introduced, and everyone knocked heartily on the table. For me, I realized, as I sat in confusion. Knocking here is a more formal way of clapping, which is reserved for less academic and formal events {like for the fire-dancers at the Campuslichter}. But it was my introduction that gave the most happiness; I was said to be working with particular people on a particular project. I have been assigned. Solar cells it is.

There are a few different kinds of solar cells. New methods are being invented all the time because of the constant push to make them a) more efficient, and b) cheaper. The more I read and hear about my specific niche, the more excited I am about it. Next week I'm going to do more observing and helping. I can't wait! Their labs are a joy to work in, besides. They have windows. Real, natural sunlight. Someone from another university was here this week; he, myself, and an American in the group have been trying to tell the Germans here how awesome this is. They are amused, I think.

Now for a three-day weekend!

First Research Day

First day with the research group. I still haven't gotten everyone's names. There are thirty or forty people in our group, and half of them are named Andreas.

I'm not kidding, not really. There are so many Andreas' {at least 3} that they introduce themselves to me as, "Andreas, but since there are so many of us here, you can call me ___."

I have yet to be assigned to a project, but I'm reading a paper by my professor and will probably be given more stuff to read tomorrow. I love everything we're doing, though! I'm discovering that what I loved about Raman spectroscopy was actually just a love of experimental physics. There is a rush of creating and accomplishing something that will have real-life results and application.

Already I have mentioned the open window policy here in Germany, yeah? Not only does my flat {yes, it has been so christened--I take my British when I can get it} have windows that open, so does my office. And we open windows. In the office!

When was the last time you encountered an office with big, open windows? The natural light is enough that we don't even use actual ceiling lights. The German summer breeze wafts in and is a fresh breath of relaxing. After all that rain and cold last week, we've hit the weather jackpot. It is what I describe as perfect. It is also what Andreas describes as perfect. Or he says it will be tomorrow. {If his name is Andreas. I'm playing the odds, here. He introduced himself to me on Friday, and I've forgotten what he said. Now that it's too late for me to ask without an insane amount of awkward...I wait for someone to address him most loudly.}

This evening some of us met up in the city for grocery shopping and ice cream/gelato {we call it gelato, though the direct translation here of eis is ice cream; I'm actually quite confused about this} at a cafe. We sat at an outdoor table on a cobblestone street at dusk. In Europe. After a day staring at a screen and trying to make sense of way too many big words...it was just about bliss.

Meeting the Research Group

 Today I met the research group that I'll be working with. I had an email with directions to the room but accidentally left it in the apartment when I left for the morning. I arrived with an hour to spare and was sure that—combined with the building directory and the presence of Robby and Miquela—would be enough. Well, Robby and Miquela abandoned me after twenty or thirty minutes, and I was left to find E02. I'm pretty sure I found every other room in the E block...but not that one. I eventually inquired of some German students who spoke some English, and they let me use their phone to access my email. They didn't know where E02 was, so they stopped by an office. The guy there didn't know either, and he had to ask his colleague!

the poppy/der mohn

Turns out, there is this little section of E rooms that are through the C block. Of course. Because that makes sense. :) It is the nicest and newest part of the building, very nice for a physics building. It was 10:36 when I finally arrived, and I was supposed to meet Dr. Dyakonov at 11am. There is a foyer with lots of plants, and I sat there for a few minutes before noticing the flowers outside. Poppies! Dr. Dyakonov saw me outside taking in the view, asked if I was Melody, and informed me that I was allowed indoors. :) We went to his office and chatted briefly, and then he decided to show me around. First order of business? The cappuccino machine and an unlimited stash of tea {with sugar cubes}. I met several of the grad students that I'll be working with. They are all a very cool, laid-back group of people. It's a laid-back community, and I like it. :) There was one girl in the bunch I met today, Frenzesca, and she was the one who showed me around the different labs.

German wildflower mix

I had been more nervous about the physics side of this trip than any other part, but when I walked into those labs, I felt only relief. I have been gallivanting around Wuerzburg tripping over my German and doing my best to have an idea of what's going on. In the physics lab, at least my lack of knowledge was familiar, haha. And even then, I actually understood some things! It has been left to the group of grad students and myself to decide what project I shall embark on for the summer. They work on a lot of different things: micro-Raman spectroscopy, organic solar cells, and magnetic resonance stuff. Most likely I'll be helping to build a confocal optical something for the magnetic resonance lab. One of the upper-level grad students is a fan of this idea because I'll learn the project as I build it and have a really good understanding of what's going on. I'm also on board with this.

Oh, and I have my own desk! It's all cleared off just for me! Not to mention a key and everything. Super cool! I feel very official. I want to learn and accomplish something worthy of that desk this summer. :)

I went to lunch with a few of the grad students. {Sorry, I don't recall a lot of names, and the ones I do, I'm not sure who they belong to or how to spell them. The only one I know for sure besides Frenzesca is Dmitri, the Russian in the group, and anyone who knows me well knows why I am able to remember that.} We went to a cafeteria-style place down south. Very large portion sizes! I had Jaegenschnitzel {the size and texture of a porkchop, but the taste of sausage} with vegetables and something beginning with  'k' {I think now it was some variation of the German word kartoffel}. I wasn't sure what the 'K' word was; I must have given it a suspicious look before eating, and my new friends found that funny. “It's potatoes, isn't it?” I inquired, after chewing.

“Yes, fried potatoes,” they said.

Indeed, the foreign objects were tater-tots. Except they are twice as long as ours, and the inside is mashed potatoes instead of textured. They're good, though, especially soaked in brown mushroom gravy.

As for the group, they all speak good English, and it is understood that it is an international group {there is more than one Russian, not to mention a Pennsylvanian somewhere that I haven't met} and so English is spoken. However, they fall into German very easily. Then they apologize. I have already asked them questions about the language and informed them that I am eager to learn as much as I can. Schnitzel, for instance, is neuter—das Schnitzel. And people in southern Germany pronounce fewer letters; for instance, they don't really say the 'l' in Brezel (pretzel). I guess this is the equivalent of a southern drawl

Speaking of pretzels, they make an excellent breakfast. Not the healthiest, but sufficient while I slowly add to my grocery collection. {I have butter now; it was part of my spoils from our dinner party on Thursday. Thick and creamy European butter. Soooooo good. I don't know if I'll be able to go back to normal butter back in the States.}

I typed this in the university library. All libraries feel the same, and it's one of my favorite feelings in the world.