Month: April 2016

I just got approved and scheduled the travel to France, Institute Laue-Langvin (ILL) for the next experiment. I just remember I wrote this but I didn’t published last December. Since we are in serious competition, so I need to publish our data as soon as possible and I would like to step further this time of experiment. I will write that here later. The following is thoughts from last December.

I have gone to Grenoble, France during 12/1 – 12/14 to perform experiment on Institute of Laue-Langvin (ILL). ILL is the best research reactor in the world. People here work very briskly and hard. I had enjoyed so much to do experiment there. And I believe I learned a lot.

 I can’t say about the project exactly though, I am working on newly found superconductor published 2015 March. The superconductivity appears only low temperature and high pressure phase. Superconductivity and Magnetism have profound relation people have never understood. I believe this material would be one of the most important materials to reveal the relations. While I was thinking, scientist is not ready to answer the relation on this material because no one has ever done direct observation of magnetic structure under pressure and low temperature. The bottle neck for scientist is to observe the phase experimentally. Neutron scattering experiment is powerful tool to study this kind of physics however neutron scattering experiment with high pressure cell is very difficult.

 The successful rate of this kind of experiment is less than 1/3 or so, we have done amazingly well this time. I am very thankful for instrument scientists and technicians there.  There are several reasons why the experiment is difficult. One biggest reason is that it is hard to control pressure on the material, we all risk of problem extremely high while we are using research reactor so the beam time is limited. And the sample space which can be apply high pressure limited so, we need to prepare very small sample with highly well aligned. The next thing is applying pressure with Paris Edingburg cell is insitu experiment. We can increase pressure during experiment however we can’t release the pressure so once we passed the phase we wanted, basically we are not able to come back the same experiment condition. So, I had to make decision very carefully at every phase to move on next.   

Also, 10 days of experiment without rest is very hard, I had tried every idea I could have come up with has failed. Anyway, I had tried what I could do, so I don’t.

The next proposal call for ILL is next February, I will probably write some to revenge this experiment. I would have to do preparation better for next time but I think I can because I have experience now.   

I have 5 hour’s off on Sunday in Grenoble. It was good time to walking around. I went to Park Victor Hugo, since I just finished rereading Les Misérables. I was excited. The park was decorated for Christmas and there is a market there. I bought souvenir for my family and friends. And also I went there with Gondra and the scenery from there was spectacular.

I am coming back to Sydney. I will finish quick manuscript on this experiment because I would love to publish the data as soon as I can. I have several things I have to finish Sydney. I will stay in Sydney for one week and then I will be on vacation in Japan for two weeks. I am very excited.

I will write here after 6 months from there how the situation has been changed and what we are doing now.

I had just land IAD and was waiting for a ride to get hotel when I am writing this. I used to live in Virginia, I used IAD couple of times but this airport always reminds me of 2001 Space Odyssey since Dr. Floyd called his housekeeper to take care of his car at IAD from the Moon. This time for me, I am going to perform neutron scattering experiment at National Institute of Standard and Technology. I had passed tests to handle the experiment and I have onsite training, then we will do the experiment.

I don’t know whether or not I would like to write but the things I have been through recently poisoned me somehow. By reading the book from Richard Feynman, however, I realized that I was just not mature enough not even as a physicist but also as a human being. I just forgot what I should do in my life.

The thoughts I have now has changed a lot since I came to Australia. That is definitely different when I was in Japan or in the U.S.. Is that good thing? I don’t know. But obviously, I was whinging all the time.

Last three weeks were very hard. I could not have time to get any rest physically and mentally. I was working very hard for experiment while I am looking for room to rent while I was preparing for experiment in the U.S.  Finally, I caught a cold and fixed one day but my feeling was very bad. This experiment is going to be very hard so I needed to be prepared in mentally and I wasn’t sure for that. In addition, I would like to finish couple of writing, paper, proposal, and funding or so. I am writing one manuscript which is under very competitive situation.

I was talking to new friend over dinner but I was complaining the situation all the time about my situation in Australia. As far as working conditions are concerned, however, because I have now tenure, higher responsibility, and neutron scattering instrument. The things have been improved very much. Problem I was having was I think I was not seeing any challenges like I had in Japan and the U.S. and I was feeling like I am far behind of serious competition.

As a young physicist, I have a lot of thing I want to achieve but everything is, I have been feeling, getting behind. I just could not see what I have done. I realized now during flight that I am growing as a neutron inelastic scattering experimentalist far faster than anyone else in this world. By doing this, at least, in next few years, I will be able to be better than good. I should be. I should not be satisfied with situation. Compared to U.S, Japan, and Europe, the user community has to grow in Australia and Asia. These are partially my responsibility.

I will write little about this experiment, this work will be collaboration with Canadian and American, we will use highly aligned single crystal sample, apply magnetic field higher than 10T, cool the sample below 40mK, trying to find magnetic order with neutron scattering experiment. The success rate of this experiment should be very low, to reach each experiment condition is not so difficult while we need to succeed to reach these conditions at the same time within limited beam time here.

In addition to the experiment, I want to finish analyzing and writing up couple of papers which I believe very important scientific contribution. I stop writing again and again but I want to write more here to “think” which should’ve been my motivation here.