We work among extraordinary people doing extraordinary things; get to know some of them by reading these quick-fire interviews.
Name: Emily Archer
Job title: Graduate student, Atomic and Laser Physics
What are you currently working on?
I am currently studying novel injection techniques in laser-plasma accelerators. When an intense laser pulse propagates through a plasma (an ionised gas that is sometimes termed the ‘fourth state of matter’), it pushes electrons in the plasma away via a force called the ponderomotive force. Much like a boat passing through water, this sets up a wave in the plasma behind the laser, creating a structure that can be used to accelerate electrons. Laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs) have accelerating gradients which are orders of magnitude larger than conventional accelerators, meaning that they have the potential to be more compact or to reach higher energies than conventional accelerators in comparable or shorter distances, making them a potential candidate for future applications in medicine, materials science and particle physics.
One challenge faced by LPAs is the problem with getting electrons into the right place to be carried along by the plasma wave. For the applications just mentioned, there are strict requirements on the properties of the electron bunch coming out of the accelerator. I am looking at ways to control the injection of electrons in the accelerator, with the aim of being able to reliably generate electron bunches with closer to desired final properties.
Describe a typical day
After a coffee at home, I normally get the bus or walk into work around 9am. I quite like getting admin or smaller tasks out of the way first, so that the rest of my day is free to work on theory. Recently, I have spent less time in our lab and more time working in the offices; normally I will work on the optics simulations that I used to simulate different types of laser pulses, or I will use PIC codes that look at how these pulses might interact with a plasma. Our group is really good at getting lunch all together, so we head over to Taylors to get sandwiches, before eating in the Beecroft. On a good day I go for a run before lunch. I usually get a bit of a slump in the afternoon, so I often take that time to read and run simulations in the background or meet people for coffee. I tend to leave work around 4 or 5pm as I get hungry, so I go home, cook dinner and chill for a bit before either going to the pub or working for a couple more hours.
If you had an entire day at your disposal (not at work), what would be your ideal way to spend it?
The best days for me are the ones where I get to spend time with the people I care about. A lot of my friends live in London and so catching up with people and wandering around various art exhibitions there definitely brings me the most peace.
What is your favourite place in Oxford?
My attic at home! I live with my partner and we turned this room into a study/library/listening to records space. Second to that, it would have to be some of the amazing outdoor spaces that Oxford has, like the Botanic Garden, University Parks, or Port Meadow.
What discovery would you like to see in your lifetime?
I would love to see a discovery that aids our understanding of dementia. It is such a devastating syndrome and affects so many people both directly and indirectly.