Starting my PhD studies today!

[tocket]

Wooohooo! Today (well, tomorrow) is the first day of another 5 years of school for me. Apparently 9 years of elementary school, 3 years of high school and 4.5 years of college is not enough for me.

My research project is in the field of molecular electronics, or more specifically the design and synthesis of dyes for dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs). Normally when people ask me what I do for a living I just say "Saving the world!" (although I'm convinced the world does not need to be saved, only mankind).

This is the research group I'm in:
http://www.kth.se/che/divisions/orgk....19169?l=en_UK

One of the perks of working with dyes is that they are quite colorful and fun to synthesize. I suspect some of them would make nice laser dyes as well, perhaps even materials for electrically pumped organic lasers. Here are 5 new substances synthesized by me. They have never been made before and this is the first picture they've ever appeared in.

[danielbriggs]

Nice, you just need a few red ones to complete the rainbow.

I didn't know DZ was grown from some test tube laser dye!

[mixedgas]

looks like you need a nitrogen laser :-)

Good Luck with your studies, and you are now entitled to read and possibly understand:

PhD Comics

http://www.phdcomics.com/

Relevant and Useful tactic:

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=906

And if you ever find a grad student, prof, or undergrad who actually respects a laser lab entry warning sign, let me know, because either a Cleveland, Ohio sports team has won a superbowl/world series, or hell just froze over, or both.
CONGRADULATIONS!

From the bastard lab manager from heck.....


Steve

[tocket]

Thanks Steve! Yeah, I've subscribed to the PHD Comics feed in google reader already. There are some really nice comics in there, but I suspect the academic culture is a little different in the US compared to Sweden and that we get paid a little more as free food is not that important to us (not saying I don't appreciate it though).

Oh, we don't have any quals either. I am teaching undergrads though, even started when I was an undergrad myself.

These seem rather useful (and striking):
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1121
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1093

I think the only laser we have is an old argon down at analytical chemistry actually. I've never seen it. Perhaps there are more...

I need to build a small IR laser for some simple two-photon absorption experiments on solar cells though. Or, do you happen to have any spares laying around Steve?

Nice, you just need a few red ones to complete the rainbow.

I didn't know DZ was grown from some test tube laser dye!

Hmm... I think it says D27-02, that's just short for 5-(4-(bis(4-(pyren-1-yl)phenyl)amino)phenyl)thiophene-2-carbaldehyde.

I have red dyes! In fact the finished dye for the solar cell is almost always very dark red, with an emission that stretches into the IR region. Unfortunately they have very weak fluorescence.

[mixedgas]

I think the only laser we have is an old argon down at analytical chemistry actually. I've never seen it. Perhaps there are more...

I need to build a small IR laser for some simple two-photon absorption experiments on solar cells though. Or, do you happen to have any spares laying around Steve?

wavelength(s) ?

Steve

[Agent C]

Congrats! I started my grad studies a year and a half ago and I love it. Nothing like fully immersing yourself in science for several years - very intense. I do synthesis work with fluorophores, too. We should chat. I'm currently making fluorescently tagged cholesterols.

[tocket]

Definitely! I have my MSN listed in my profile, if you use that.

wavelength(s) ?

Steve

Oops...

Well, anything NIR might be interesting. Perhaps 800-1100 nm is best. CW or pulsed. ~100 mW should do, less if pulsed. Considering just using a CD burner diode that I found while cleaning.

[Agent C]

Two photon dyes are a great area to explore. Don't have to worry about those high energy uv - blue photons ripping apart your organic dye molecules or the molecules of the poor cells subjected to imaging! There was a tunable NIR laser called the Chameleon where I did my undergrad that was setup just for two-photon imaging.

[tocket]

Finally received my degree. Took a long bloody while, but now I can finally call myself an engineer.

If you're wondering what the result of 5 years' hard work is... well, here it is:
http://tockets.endofinternet.org/degree.pdf

[gottaluvlasers]

congratulations!!!!!!!!