A research assistant from the ISSP UL’s Laboratory of Optical Materials, Madara Leimane, participated in summer school 2023 Characterization of Materials Summer School devoted to different techniques and applications of materials characterization. The school took place at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, from 22nd to 25th August.
This course provided an overview of different techniques and applications of materials characterization available to scientists and engineers. Lectures briefly introduced the underlying theory and discussed relevant applications and the limitations of a given technique. Hands-on experience in the lab allowed students to see the methods in action, potentially with their own samples, giving them a well-rounded introduction to the technique.
Madara Leimane attended lectures and participated in hands-on experience in the laboratories given by lecturers from EPFL, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) and laboratory instrument production company (Anton Paar) of different material characterization techniques: transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-Ray (EDX), focused ion beam (FIB)/SEM, X-ray diffraction, atom force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, etc.
This summer school aimed to expand young scientists’ present knowledge about materials characterization techniques, raise her qualification level, and gain practical skills in working with the presented methods, especially related to her PhD Thesis topic: SiO2 glass and glass-ceramic materials. During the summer school, Madara also got to know other students taking their PhD in Materials Science.
Madara Leimane considers the acquired knowledge and experience important because they will be used in her doctoral thesis, where several material characterization techniques, such as Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and EDX, will be used. The acquired knowledge will also be used to analyse the samples synthesized in the ISSP UL’s Laboratory of Optical Materials and to consult other ISSP UL colleagues working with these measurement techniques.
