h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, I just wanted to wish you good luck on your holiday. But isn´t the Southern France flooded at this time? I suppose that just means more beach Is it anywhere near La Grande Motte?

Also, I wanna hear what subject it is you´re going to do a PHD in. I´m also hoping to go the physics way so I am interested. And what are you coming to Copenhagen for? I am from Denmark, so I´m curious to know.

So am I Honey. (Curious to know, that is, as opposed to hoping to go the physics route - too late for that <jealous&gt
Also curious about the name.

sorry guys,
I suppose I already left before you sent this!

The Provence was great, as ever, really hot (up to 40°C) and indeed, rather crowded. But if you know the environment a little, you get to know the specific places you just have to avoid in order to survive the crowd! Actually we stayed in the house of a friend's parents, in a very new holiday village with a brand new swimming pool and nearly nobody around (some of the houses are not even sold)! Of course, if you want to see some typical attractions and beautiful sites, you have to crowd-swim, but we survived!

About the PhD : I am doing a research that consists of different parts, but the main part involves depositing thin films (i.e. a thickness of the µm range or less) with a specific technique, in order to be able to control the microstructure (crystallographic) and physical properties (density, optical properties, electrical properties etc.) during growth. I'm sorry if this is a very difficult sentence, but there's not really another way of saying it!
One of the most interesting and important applications of this technique might be to make high temperature superconducting thin films that can actually be used! For this reason I am coming to Copenhagen end of August, because it is the location (this year) of Europe's biggest conference on Applied Superconductivity. I'm supposed to do a presentation there (which I still have to prepare!).

Anyway, I hope this answer covers the question (?).


btw Atumn Hughes, what do you mean with 'the name'?..

h³

Oh okay, I see. Hope you enjoyed yourself down there. Have you then heard about that new technique that has been invented for making very thin film using soundwaves?

erm... no, I've never heard of it...
I'm merely trying to concentrate on one technique in particular and some materials! (it is already too much for one PhD, believe me!)

Do you have some more information about it? What it's called, for instance?

h³

Well, I can´t remember much about it. I just read an article on it on the internet, I´ll find it for you. But the basis of it was something like this. You take some cement and water and mix it. Then put it between two sound speakers, so the sound waves will push it into a thin wall-like structure. Then it hardens and you got a thin wall. Except they of course don´t use cement, but it was materials that were to be mixed with water that they would use.