[No. 189] Masashi Abe

I don't know to what extent the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided by the time you are reading this, but I hope you are all in good health.

It has become more common in Japan recently, but after completing my undergraduate and master's degrees, I worked for a time before returning to graduate school for my doctorate. I will be writing about these experiences, so please bear with me for a little while.

Perhaps like many high school students in the sciences, I became interested in science in junior high school and was relatively good at math. I wanted to study these subjects more deeply and apply that knowledge, which is why I aimed for the Faculty of Science and Technology, and the Department of Physics in particular. I remember reading a book during a high school summer vacation about Einstein's theory of relativity, which discussed things like the "twin paradox," and thinking it sounded fascinating. I believe this was also a reason I pursued physics.

Admission to the Faculty of Science and Technology was divided by "Gakumon" (school clusters, numbered 1 to 5, with the Department of Physics being in Gakumon 1). However, in my first year, many of my classes were organized by my second foreign language class (German, in my case), regardless of Gakumon. In college, I was busy with just my part-time job and studies and had no involvement in club or circle activities, but thanks to this system, I had the opportunity to make friends from other departments. I often got together with the friends I made in that class throughout my student years.

In my second year, we were sorted into departments, and I was able to successfully advance to my first choice, the Department of Physics. With about 40 students in my year, it felt like being back in a high school class. A fond memory with my department friends is the third-year lab course. This year-long class took up three periods on Monday and Friday afternoons, which gave us plenty of time to work on our experiments. While working with my lab partner, we would sometimes chat, which allowed us to become closer. In my fourth year, we were assigned to research labs. I had initially wanted to do theoretical work, so I joined a theory lab. However, my interest shifted toward uncovering physics by physically handling things, so for my master's degree, I moved to the Sasada Laboratory (a laser physics lab).

I also took the teacher-training course, but I faced many hardships to obtain my license. I acquired a science teaching license for junior high and high school (which has since expired as I have not taken the renewal course), but I had to earn nearly 40 credits in addition to my graduation requirements. I remember being swamped with reports, teaching practice, and nursing care experience. However, the teaching practice at my alma mater gave me a chance to experience "teaching," and I feel it has been extremely valuable for my current position in education.

From my master's through my Doctoral Programs, I conducted my research at the Sasada Laboratory (which has now been succeeded by the Hasegawa Laboratory). The Sasada Lab is a laser physics lab. Within that field, I was interested in the theme of laser spectroscopy of molecules, so I pursued that research. When you think of lasers, you might imagine devices that emit red or green light, but I was developing an invisible infrared laser. In addition to being invisible, there are various experimental difficulties, such as needing equipment that uses liquid nitrogen to detect light in this wavelength range. Despite these challenges, infrared lasers are well-suited for changing the state of molecules. I earned my degree by developing this laser and clarifying the state changes of molecules.

One of the events in our lab was that students would bake a cake to celebrate the professors' birthdays. Believing Professor Sasada's words that "there is a correlation between skill in cooking and skill in experiments," we put our all into it.

After completing my master's degree, I joined Sony Corporation. I was involved in the design and development of the optical pickup for Blu-ray Disc players and was able to successfully launch the product into the world. While both manufacturing companies and a university's Faculty of Science and Technology utilize knowledge of science and engineering, a crucial difference is that a company's work must generate profit. Unlike in graduate school, where I could focus solely on my own projects, I had to produce results within a set timeframe. This was something I struggled with right after joining the company, as I couldn't work efficiently.

Although my work at Sony was very meaningful, I couldn't let go of the longing for research that I had during my master's studies. When I consulted with Professor Sasada, he readily accepted my return to the Doctoral Programs, and I managed to obtain my degree in three years. During these three years, I was also able to experience a short-term study abroad program and present at an international conference, and I think my English skills, which I struggled with, improved somewhat.

After obtaining my degree, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Advanced Integrated Device Research Centers and Institutes of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT). There, they research devices that support optical communications, such as semiconductors and optical waveguides, and I worked on their applied research. I was a complete novice when it came to optical communications, but I devoted myself to research while absorbing new knowledge. In optical communications, light carrying information is transmitted over thousands of kilometers, and being able to witness those experiments was a great experience.

After that, I took a position as an assistant professor at Chuo University, where I am engaged in education as well as research using "cold atoms (ultracold atoms)," a hot topic in laser physics. Ultracold atoms are ideal for demonstrating quantum manipulation, including for quantum computers, and I am currently trying to experimentally prove a new method for manipulating quantum states. Research doesn't always go smoothly, but by collaborating with the members of my lab, I hope to gradually unravel previously unknown physical phenomena and realize new ways to manipulate quantum states. For the past year and a half, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have prevented us from conducting research and classes as usual, but the faculty members are putting our heads together to find new ways to conduct research and better teaching methods.