Igor Alexander

Application Solution Manager, PhD

Monocrom

Since I was a teenager, I have been fascinated by lasers and optics. This was my reason to study physics engineering, especially focused on laser physics. During my diploma thesis studies, I have developed great enthusiasm in topics like ultra-fast laser systems, higher harmonic generation and nonlinear optics, through which I was able to collect experimental experience in these fields. Before my diploma thesis, I also worked with cryogenics in the “Small Cooler” group of Prof. Thummes at the Institute for Applied Physics at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, which develops pulse tube coolers. After my diploma thesis, I started my PhD thesis in nuclear physics in the group of Prof. Aulenbacher at the Mainz Microtron located at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. I took this possibility because I was curious to broaden my horizon in the knowledge of physics and because it included work on the generation of picosecond laser/electron pulses. An important part of my PhD thesis was to design a laser system that fulfills the requirements of a continuous wave electron accelerator and to achieve high-current operation. Additionally, I implemented a technique in emittance measurement called “slit-mask measurement” consisting of cutting out small beamlets of a whole beam distribution and determining their width and displacement. To assess whether this method is reliable, I have made a cross check with an additional technique, because it is one of my passions to take accurate measurements. It gave me great pleasure to collaborate with the staff of the institute’s own workshops in order to engineer all required parts for my setup. With the experience that I have gained in my PhD thesis, I have increased my abilities to solve many technical problems, especially those related to UHV-suitable components and laser systems. Besides the research for my PhD thesis I had the opportunity to assist a lecture where I coordinated the exercises together with a team of student instructors. In the process of my PhD thesis I assisted and supervised numerous master and bachelor students in their studies for our collaboration. During my PhD thesis, I programmed in Mathematica to evaluate and analyze the collected data.  On  the  basis  of  these  experiences,  I  acquired  a  broader  understanding  of  the fundamentals  of  programming.  Since  the  spring  of  2018,  I  own  two  NVIDIA  Tesla  K40m accelerator cards and engage privately with the CUDA programming language.