Georgios Pantazidis is currently on a secondment to the University of Münster where he is being hosted by Lorenzo Madii Fabiani. Georgios will continue working there for another month and will in turn host Lorenzo sometime towards the end of the year at Aarhus University. One of the important goals of a secondment is to learn new techniques and Georgios is excited to work with lasers at Lorenzo’s lab. I spoke to Lorenzo and Georgios about their experiences working together.
What have you been doing in the last two months in Lorenzo’s lab ?
GP: Lorenzo first introduced me to his experimental setup and then I helped him in his project. He is trying to determine how PAH molecules impact the process of formation and release of hydrogen molecules from graphite surfaces. Apart from that, we have taken up an additional project to assemble a new chamber to measure the VUV-visible spectra of various PAHs. None of us has built a setup from scratch, so this is an exciting process for both of us.
What are the new techniques you learnt ?
GP: I am improving my experimental skills and knowledge about ultrafast processes, since the setup here is combining Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) components with lasers. I took a course back at Aarhus University last semester on Ultrafast Process in anticipation of this secondment and that has proved helpful.
How is the lab different from the one you work at in Aarhus ?
GP: The labs are more scattered in different buildings and they are distributed in terms of practical use. For example, the desorption laser that Lorenzo uses, is shared with another setup which studies higher harmonics.
So what do you miss about Aarhus ?
GP: In regards to work, I miss of course my colleagues and the work environment in the SDL group. In regards to personal, I miss my friends. Münster is a beautiful city but without my people I cannot enjoy it at its fullest.
How is it like living in Münster ?
GP: Living in Münster is more or less the same as in Aarhus. They have a similar population and demographics, since they are both young university cities. Münster offers as well a lot of art events, music festivals and of course nightlife options. Another fun fact is that every person in Münster owns on average 3 bikes (1 million bikes in all), so this makes Münster resemble Aarhus in that regard too.
I finally asked Lorenzo what is was like sharing his setup and working with Gerogios and this is what he said:
It is nice to work with him and since he already has experience working with ultrahigh vacuum systems, he lends a hand in fixing things. Now that he has learnt how to use my experimental setup we are able to conduct experiments quickly and efficiently as we can work simultaneously on different things. We are also building a new setup and we are enjoying working together. I especially like working with him because he is willing to learn and likes doing things by himself.
This article was written by ESR Rijutha Jaganathan.
Images and captions were provided by Georgios Panatazidis.