Look Who's at the Lab: Christoph Guenster (October 2009)
In Look Who's at the Lab, we profile some of the hundreds of scientists who visit our lab every year.
Christoph Guenster at the 25 tesla Keck magnet.
Title: Graduate Student, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Mag Lab user since: 2007
Number of visits to the lab: 6
Dates of most recent experiment:
October 19-23, 2009
Distance traveled: 4,872 miles / 7,840 km (Aachen to Tallahassee)
Research Interests:
"Manipulating the mechanical properties of metal by means of annealing in magnetic fields, grain boundary kinetics, atomistic mechanisms of grain boundary migration."
Web site: www.imm.rwth-aachen.de
Email: cguenster@imm.rwth-achen.de
Title: Magnetically Induced Grain Boundary Motion
Other Participants: Dmitri Molodov (principal investigator), Aachen University, Institute of Physical Metallurgy and Metal Physics.
Synopsis: "The size distribution of grains (volume elements in crystalline solids with a common crystallographic structure and orientation) and the texture (statistical distribution of grain orientations present in a sample) to a great extent determine the mechanical properties of metallic materials. Grain growth proceeds by the motion of grain boundaries (the areas separating the grains), which may be induced in various ways by annealing and by providing different types of driving forces. In anisotropic (varying physical properties along different crystallographic directions) metals one of these driving forces is an external magnetic field. By determining the kinetics parameters of various grain boundaries, using a polarization microscope with an integrated hot stage as a magnet probe, the influence of structural characteristics such as misorientation angle (angle to tilt or rotate one grain to coincide with its neighbor) and rotational axis (crystallographic axis about which the tilting/rotation occurs) on grain boundary mobility is investigated in zinc bicrystals, leading to a more profound understanding of the atomistic mechanisms of grain boundary migration and facilitating the fabrication of metallic materials with tailored mechanical properties."
Facility: DC Field Facility, Tallahassee.
Equipment: 25 tesla Keck magnet
Techniques: Polarization microscope with an integrated, movable hot stage.
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Favorite thing about working at the lab:
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After months of preparation finally being able to focus on one thing only: running the experiments. Also, it's always fun to work with the highly motivated and supportive Mag Lab staff. |
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Thing you miss most about home when you’re here:
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My girlfriend and a good night's sleep.
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Your proudest science moment:
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Up until now, watching the first boundary migrate through a zinc bicrystal in January 2008, finally having proved that the experimental setup works.
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What keeps you awake at night:
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Going through remaining tasks during unfinished experiment setups or wondering why some of the data values produced were completely unexpected.
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The most unscientific thing about you:
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Being a movie maniac, into every genre from drama to sci-fi and (shamefully!) horror movies.
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Your hero:
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I couldn't think of one particular person. What I do find admirable, though, are successful scientists that stay grounded in the "real world" despite their high commitment to work.
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Last book you read:
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Notes from a Small Island, by Bill Bryson. The author amusingly presents his view on various oddities in the British way of life, which I have come to appreciate myself, having spent a year in South Wales as a youngster. |
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Parting thoughts on science today:
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I'm deeply concerned about global warming and the effect it will have on life on our planet. To stop this process may be science's biggest challenge to date, because never before has mankind as a whole had to face such dramatic changes of environmental conditions, which may put an end to civilization as we know it.
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Date posted: October 2009
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