In this FAU LMQ People Spotlight, we interviewed the researcher Eileen Schneider, who is working at the Research Unit chair of experimental physics since February 2023.
What is your research topic? What is your current role?
I am a PhD student in the group of Prof. Janina Maultzsch. My research focuses on the optical properties of two-dimensional semiconductors and their heterostructures. I am particularly interested in the coupling between single layers of these 2D materials, which I investigate using resonance Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy.
How is your research linked to the research foci of the FAU LMQ?
In my research I study the light-matter interaction of novel two-dimensional materials. By changing the twist angle between single layers and using many laser wavelengths in the visible spectrum I examine the changes in electron-phonon interaction in these ultrathin semiconductors. My work aligns with LMQ’s emphasis on fundamental understanding of light–matter interactions in quantum materials.
What do you find most fascinating in your research?
What fascinates me most about my research is that by shooting lasers at ultra-thin materials, I can essentially “see” what atoms are doing. I particularly like that I can fabricate my own samples and then explore the physics of something I built with my own hands.
When I am not working at the FAU, then …
I am reading, painting, sewing, or spending time with friends and family.
Do you have a secret talent?
End the dice game ‘Schocken’ by ‘Schock-Aus’ (instant win). My colleagues hate this trick.
What does a typical day in your working life look like?
Usually, my day starts in the gym. At university it is a mixture of fabricating samples, working in the laser labs, data evaluation, talking to colleagues, supervising students and trying to understand what my data tells me. Whatever my day looks like, lunch with my colleagues is at 12.
What are your plans for the future?
That is what I am trying to figure out in the last one and a half years left in my PhD. I think I would like to go from fundamental research to more application-related work, whether that might be in academia or industry.
In this FAU LMQ People Spotlight, we interviewed the researcher Eileen Schneider, who is working at the Research Unit chair of experimental physics since February 2023.
What is your research topic? What is your current role?
I am a PhD student in the group of Prof. Janina Maultzsch. My research focuses on the optical properties of two-dimensional semiconductors and their heterostructures. I am particularly interested in the coupling between single layers of these 2D materials, which I investigate using resonance Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy.
How is your research linked to the research foci of the FAU LMQ?
In my research I study the light-matter interaction of novel two-dimensional materials. By changing the twist angle between single layers and using many laser wavelengths in the visible spectrum I examine the changes in electron-phonon interaction in these ultrathin semiconductors. My work aligns with LMQ’s emphasis on fundamental understanding of light–matter interactions in quantum materials.
What do you find most fascinating in your research?
What fascinates me most about my research is that by shooting lasers at ultra-thin materials, I can essentially “see” what atoms are doing. I particularly like that I can fabricate my own samples and then explore the physics of something I built with my own hands.
When I am not working at the FAU, then …
I am reading, painting, sewing, or spending time with friends and family.
Do you have a secret talent?
End the dice game ‘Schocken’ by ‘Schock-Aus’ (instant win). My colleagues hate this trick.
What does a typical day in your working life look like?
Usually, my day starts in the gym. At university it is a mixture of fabricating samples, working in the laser labs, data evaluation, talking to colleagues, supervising students and trying to understand what my data tells me. Whatever my day looks like, lunch with my colleagues is at 12.
What are your plans for the future?
That is what I am trying to figure out in the last one and a half years left in my PhD. I think I would like to go from fundamental research to more application-related work, whether that might be in academia or industry.