Today the lab was rather empty. A lot of the students and professors went to a picnic hosted by another lab group, and Mélanie wasn't in either. I began a fairly systematic investigation of the stability of the tilted cavities - that is, I'm looking to see how much the spectra change when I make a small translation or rotation of the stage on which the sample rests. We tentatively expected the spectrum to change as the pump laser was directed at different portions of the cavity, since the width is different at every point. I spent quite a while aligning the sample very carefully and taking reference spectra with the 160 micron true FP. It's reassuring to note that features I had previously observed still hold true; for instance, the pump position long-ways along the laser doesn't really matter for real Fabry-Perots. I was pleased to see something interesting in the tilted spectra, though. When pumped at the very end of the long cavity, the spectra of the cavities I saw looked like typical spectra, not messy like the spectra from the middle of the cavities. I still have to show Mélanie and look at the really tilted cavity, but it's cool. I think that this pump position only pumps the very tip of the cavity, over a length where the width doesn't change significantly. I can't tell much from Fourier analysis yet because the tilts I've examined are too small to tell path lengths apart.
So that's been work. It's difficult for me to believe that I'm halfway done with this internship. That also means I'm halfway done with my stay in Paris. While the time is flying by, I don't feel that I'm wasting it. My life is quite full right now. By day, my mild-mannered alter-ego works in an optics lab. But by night, my...same mild-mannered persona...has adventures in the city! Last evening's quest was to the Musée d'Orsay with Linda, following a restful picnic in the Tuileries where we were joined by Caleb and Mir. Caleb brought five (delicious) baguettes, I brought strawberry jam and cookie butter, and life was good. The Impressionists were good too. They are the only school of art about which I know much of anything, thanks to Madame Bettis and French 5 in high school. At the beginning of all these museum visits, I thought I would probably find other groups and painters I preferred, as it would be unlikely that the one school I know turns out to be my favorite. So far, though, I remain loyal to the Impressionists. Their paintings are pretty. There are others I quite admire as well, but I spend the longest on the Impressionists. By now I've almost made it through the whole upstairs gallery at the M 'O. One or two more visits and I'll be able to look at some of the other wonderful things in that museum!
Tonight was partially an evening of rest. I needed it. Kierstin and several others have gone to a music festival in the city of Arras, about an hour away by train. I'll have the room to myself for the next week, since she will be in the UK for work immediately following the festival. Weird. I suspect I'll get rather lonely.
The fun treat this evening was my visit to the famous bookstore Shakespeare and Company, tucked away right next to the Notre-Dame. I browsed for an hour or so, and almost regret that the building was so crammed with books that I couldn't see half of them, as they were on shelves up to the ceiling, far over my head. And I couldn't resist buying myself a few souvenirs - what better place to read Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities than Paris? Er, besides London, I guess.
Here are some odds-and-ends photos from the past few days: a bit of Cachan (on the walk to work), the outside of M 'O, lovely Paris, the metro, and the bookshop. If things go even approximately well, this weekend should generate some good posts. I have plans!
No comments:
Post a Comment