Research Logbook: Víctor Delgado at the University of Bochum
Follow the week-by-week journey of our researcher Víctor Delgado during his four-month stay at the Photonics and Ultrafast Laser Science Group (University of Bochum, Germany), led by Prof. Clara Saraceno. His challenge at the high-power 2-micron laser lab: to design and build a new laser cavity to increase intracavity power and surpass the current average power records in these systems.
📅 Week 1: First impressions, the 2-micron lab, and life in Bochum
In this first episode of his weekly documentary, Víctor shares how his first days in Germany have gone and how he is settling into Prof. Clara Saraceno’s team:
- In the lab: Víctor is taken on a tour of the experimental setups at the high-power 2-micron lab and introduced to Ho:CALGO (Holmium:CALGO) as a highly attractive solid-state gain medium for these systems, with which the German group currently holds the average power record.
- First steps and scientific life: Starting the cavity design based on currently available materials and attending practice presentations as the group prepares for an upcoming international optical laser congress.
- Beyond science: A welcome dinner with the team on Friday night and a climbing and bouldering session, one of the most popular sports among young people in Germany.
