In Australia now
Fri Aug 25 20:58:26 EST 2006
Made it to Oz ok, the plane trip (all 24 hours of it) was not too bad. Still a bit jetlagged a day later, but have managed to shop for essential supplies and to pop into the uni to get the rundown on the project, meet the group and have a look at the lab. The lab is pretty impressive size-wise compared to the Oxford labs, we have about the same amount of optical table area as was on my old experiment but much higher ceilings so there is a bigger sense of space. There are also a few groups working in the same room, so always something going on.
The experimental setup is really nice, very modular - each distinct optical device (eg laser plus stabilization setup and fibre coupler) is on its own breadboard which is decoupled vibrationally from the table using alterating layers of foam and lead.
No internet access yet unfortunately. I managed to send a quick email to my parents and my friends back in Oxford, and should have access through the university soon. That will give me a chance to find out the possibilities for getting access at home.
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