Scientific Workshop

Tasks and facilities

The scientific workshop is divided into the departments mechanics, electronics and low-temperature technology. Its tasks are to develop and manufacture equipment for research and student training as well as to repair and redesign existing equipment. The equipment is ordered by the scientific staff and they are in close contact with the workshop during production.

Mechanics department

The mechanics department plans, designs with CAD and manufactures experiment setups and complicated equipment. Depending on the material (aluminum, stainless steel, plastic, wood, etc.) different techniques are being used and optimized while manufacturing. Therefore various machines are available. For example there is a CNC milling machine by Hermle among them.

The mechanics department accepts two new trainees every other year. The apprenticeship to become a precision engineer takes 3,5 years.

Electronics department

This department repairs defective laboratory equipment and manufactures customized designs for research purposes. At first a circuit is designed to  satisfy the specific needs of the experiment. In the second step a layout for a circuit board is designed with CAD and then manufactured. Therefore a circuit board plotter, a spray-etching-machine and a galvanization machine for vias are available. A body is manufactured in cooperation with the mechanics department and the finished device is installed. Finally it can be used in the laboratory after a function test.

Low-temperature technology department

A special department of the scientific workshop for research and student training deals with low-temperature technology. Many measurements in the Department of Physics are carried out at temperatures of 4 K (-269 °C) or less; on one hand to examine the properties of materials at these temperatures and on the other hand to generate the required high magnetic fields in superconducting magnets for magnetic resonance imaging. Also molecular beam epitaxy equipment, spectrometers and other facilities have to be cooled.

Therefore liquid nitrogen (LN₂) and liquid helium (LHe) is used, at the moment about 800000 liters of LN₂ and 80000 liters of LHe per year. LN₂ is cheap to buy, hence it is delivered in tankers and stored in several tanks. LHe is more expensive and has to be recovered so that it can be liquefied again. When liquid helium is used in the equipment the gas is recovered with a pipe system and stored in a gas tank. From there it can be forwarded to the helium liquefying machine when needed.