Advent calendar - December 11th - Alida van Hunnik

In the Zernike Institute Advent Calendar, we are presenting 24 short spotlights in December. In these specials, we highlight PhD students, postdocs, support staff and technicians of our research groups and team - providing a glimpse into their typical day at work. In Episode 11 meet Alida van Hunnik, PhD researcher in the Topological Quantum Materials group of Dr. Roberto Lo Conte.

I am a second year PhD student working in the Surfaces and Thin Films group with Roberto Lo Conte. We are creating atomic scale magnet-superconductor hybrid systems, in which the interplay of superconductivity and magnetic textures can give new emergent properties in the form of non-trivial topological electronic states. This field is very exciting, as there is still a lot of fundamental physics to be understood, and many materials to choose from, which hopefully gives us a big toolbox to engineer future quantum materials.

We perform Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) and Spectroscopy (STS) to understand the local atomic structures and their resulting local density of states. Because these are surface science techniques, it is very important that we have ultraclean surfaces. So, we prepare most of our samples in situ in Ultra-High Vacuum (UHV) to get the best quality. I really enjoy working with UHV systems and their intricacies. They sometimes feel like children you need to take good care of. I find that every part of the machine has its own “character” that I need to work with, and I admit that I do talk to the machine sometimes..

I am currently developing a recipe to grow a two-dimensional superconductor. This is a nice challenge. On a day to day basis, this means doing cleaning tests on my substrate, loading evaporators with material, doing local bakeouts, growing samples, doing STM measurements, scratching my head, reading more literature, discussing in the group, discussing with collaborators, and more cleaning and sample testing. It is exciting to move closer to my goals and understand my material better and better.

Another aspect of the PhD I really enjoy is working with bachelor and master students. Being in a sealed off lab (limiting external noise) can be lonely, so it is great to work with a student, teach them new things, and receive help and valuable perspectives back from them. They make my day much more enjoyable and give me energy.

In my private life, I tend to keep myself busy too. I find natural eating very important, so I try to buy local produce as much as possible and make a lot of my own food, such as yoghurt and bread. I avoid the supermarket and often visit the farm instead to buy milk and eggs directly from the source, or the mill to buy flour, etc. I also have a bunch of other hobbies (too many) such as playing the piano and cello, reading, walking in nature, spotting butterflies, playing Minecraft, playing boardgames or Magic the Gathering with friends, spending time with my family, and maintaining and driving the two classic cars my husband owns.

See all Advent Calendar items 2025 here!