GULP! – Mini-Project 2
- sheffmaterialgirl
- May 26, 2016
- 3 min read
Mini-Project 2
Topic: Atomistic simulations of defect mechanisms in ceramics Duration: 6 weeks Outputs: Mini paper with literature review & lab book
Hello!
The subject of matter today is Mini-Project 2. In some ways, this process hasn’t been as steep a learning curve as Project 1. However, it has undoubtedly offered some of its own hardships – learning atomistic simulation code is one in my book…
I don’t want to liken this project to being thrown in at the deep end, but I guess it was just a few metres short! I had gained some prior experience of basic coding using MATLAB for one of my second year modules, but I hadn’t coded in quite a while (this is no excuse though, my friends). To be fair, it wasn’t so hard with the guidance of my supervisor Colin and some team work; it was pretty GULP-worthy in the beginning though…
Image source: Giphy.com
GULP stands for General Utility Lattice Program – it is a means of simulating materials at the atomic level. We used GULP to perform lattice defect calculations from potential models and investigate the favourable atomistic mixtures and defect mechanisms in the La-doping of SrTiO3. Rare-earth element La can be doped into the ceramic via 5 possible recorded incorporation mechanisms in literature, and each of the MRes group (there are 8 of us) were given a composition for which we had to find the lowest solution energy per La ion – i.e. we had to find the go-to mechanism.
The most challenging part of the project was probably combing through the literature. The topic itself is not such an easy one to understand – debatably – for beginners such as myself, and even when following my own advice from the first project I found it quite difficult to understand the papers.
In writing my mini paper, I found that length was not such an important issue – the main part of writing a paper can simply be structuring it well. Sure, most people in academia may know the usual sections (introduction, experimental/methods, results, discussion and conclusions) but in this project, figuring out what to include as sub-headings was slightly more arduous (e.g. potential development, defect chemistry, experimental and theoretical agreement). Learning Kröger-Vink notation – this was before my Advanced Ceramics module, ok! – and furthering my general knowledge of ceramic defects wouldn’t have been too bad individually, but the thought of writing a paper on such a multifaceted topic within 6 weeks seemed impossible. Of course, it wasn’t impossible.
Image source: Ffr.wikia.com
During weekly group meetings, Colin commented multiple times on the flummoxed looks upon our faces. However, it must be noted that the weekly meetings were so crucial to my understanding of this project that I can’t stress enough how important it is to ask questions. Take it one step further too, and listen to the answers to other people’s questions; people are likely to have different questions to you and there are certain people with exceptionally brilliant time management – these special people may be a few steps ahead of you in the thought process.
Top tip: If you don’t understand some of the literature, read it again in a few days; the first time diving into a new subject can be overwhelming to say the least. If you still don’t understand, then ask questions! Listen to the questions posed by other members of the group too, and note down the answers.
Good luck, research minions! ☆
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