A Day in the Life at a Laser Lab

9:00 AM – I walk up to the lab with my backpack full of my books and laptop. Not gonna lie, I'm still waking up.

9:05 AM – Before I can even think about entering the main lab, I have to check the cameras to ensure no one is working. We have a whole security system because, to put it simply, lasers are dangerous.

9:10 AM – I check the pressure gauge outside the door: negative pressure. Good. That means air is pulled into the lab, not pushed out, helping keep possible contaminants from escaping and spreading to other areas.

9:20 AM – Time to suit up. It's a full-body suit. This way, we are protected from these strong laser beams.

9:30 AM – I walk in, lights off. Time to align.

This is where things get weird. When you're working with lasers, you need to see the beam. And you can't see the beam if the fluorescent lights are blasting overhead. So we flip the lights off and turn on the lasers. You can then see these thin, bright lines cutting through the darkness—red, green, a range of colors.

Today I'm aligning a beam onto a target for an experiment. This means adjusting mirrors, making tiny adjustments until the laser hits exactly where it needs to. One graduate student is across the table from me doing his own alignment. We're both crouched over our setups, tweaking knobs, checking angles. 

11:00 AM – Lights back on. My eyes need a break.

I'm now setting up a new configuration. Last week, I was just following instructions. But now I'm designing my own setups. It's kind of crazy. A few months ago, I didn't even know what an 8-Channel Butterfly Fixture Laser Diode Drawer was. Honestly, I still don’t really know.

12:30 PM – Lunch break. 

1:15 PM – Back in the lab. Lights off again. I'm now discussing next steps and working with a graduate student to get help taking the measurements.

2:30 PM – We finish the measurements and a labmate asks me to help troubleshoot a setup in another room. Something isn't aligning right, and they need a fresh pair of eyes. We spend 20 minutes adjusting, re-checking, adjusting again. Finally, it works. 

3:30 PM – I start cleaning up my station. 

4:00 PM – I take off my suit and head home. My brain is fried. My eyes hurt when going back into the bright sunlight. Tomorrow I'll be back, probably doing something completely different, learning another tool.

Check back to learn what lasers have to do with astronomy!