【Overseas Training Report】Darmstadt, Germany, Apr. 18-Oct. 20, 2022 Mr. Yamamoto, Graduate School of Science

I have been conducting research at the School of Materials Research, Technical University of Darmstadt [Photo 1], for six months, from April to October. Originally, I wanted to visit the Alff Lab because I could do research using MBE equipment [Photo 2], which is not available at the Fukumura Lab, and because our research themes are close.

Perhaps because I had visited the Alff Lab once before my visit before the Coronavirus started to spread(http://gp-ms.tohoku.ac.jp/student/stie_tud_yamamoto.html), I was accepted for a six-month stay.

Photo 1: Department of Materials Research, Technical University of Darmstadt

Photo 2: MBE equipment at Alff Lab.

The war started in February, and although there were some troubles, such as a change in the direct flight to Dubai, I arrived safely and was able to start my research without any major deviation from my schedule. The Alff lab had planned to synthesize La2O2Sb, a material that had been synthesized in Japan using sputtering equipment, using MBE equipment and to further evaluate its physical properties, but time ran out when they finally succeeded in synthesizing a thin film by MBE. I am now in the process of bringing the synthesized thin films back to Japan to evaluate their physical properties.

The university office took care of most of the procedures necessary for daily life, such as moving into a dormitory on campus, registering as a resident, obtaining a visa, and making an appointment to open a bank account, so everything went very smoothly. This may depend on where you are studying, but I think that Technical University of Darmstadt is one of the universities where the burden on students is very small. In terms of research, the technicians are very thorough in managing their equipment, which made my research life very comfortable.

Since my student ID card had an unlimited train ticket on the back and I could travel freely, I often went to Rüdesheim [Photo 3], a wine-producing area, to drink wine on my days off.

Photo 3: At Rüdesheim

Germany is all about beer, and everyone drank so much beer that there were three breweries in Darmstadt, but because of its proximity to France, white wine was very good. I was often invited to join drinking parties and enjoyed various places, such as a drinking establishment attached to a beer brewery and a restaurant that served food from the hometowns of students from various European countries [Photo 4].

I once lost my keys to my laboratory and dormitory, but they were returned through the university office within a week, so I never felt uneasy in my daily life.

Photo 4: At a drinking party