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Dr. Paul Szabo received his PhD in Technical Physics at TU Wien in Vienna, Austria, studying the alteration of surfaces due to ion impacts with laboratory experiments. These measurements specifically included sputtering of planetary surfaces by solar wind ions and implantation of hydrogen isotopes in fusion-relevant materials.
Paul has worked at SSL since 2021, first as a Postdoctoral Scholar and now as an Assistant Researcher. His research interests focus on the interaction of solar wind and magnetospheric plasma with planetary surfaces. Using spacecraft measurements and modeling of ion impact processes, he aims to better understand processes that have affected the surfaces of bodies like the Moon or Mercury for billions of years. These efforts include, for example, datasets from THEMIS-ARTEMIS and Kaguya, as well as global hybrid modeling and microscale ion-surface interaction simulations. Phenomena of interest specifically include sputtering of surface atoms, implantation of ions or the scattering of ions from planetary regolith. Results of this research help to better understand the history of planetary bodies as well as the particle environment around them as it is observed today.
