Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Physics has fascinated me since high school, because it lets you understand things at a fundamental level. I was drawn to materials science during my Bachelor’s and Master’s, which led to a PhD in fusion materials.
What is your ERG project about?
It builds on my previous work during my PhD, where I studied how heavy hydrogen isotopes from the fusion fuel penetrate into the tungsten metal that covers the insides of a fusion machine. This is an important topic for fusion, because we want the fuel to be in the reaction vessel, not in the walls around it.
It turns out that there is a counter-intuitive process where tungsten that has absorbed slow-moving deuterium, with too little energy to really jostle tungsten atoms around and create vacancies, can then absorb more fast-moving deuterium than if you only expose it to high- or low-energy impacts. I want to understand why. In any case it means that we need to be careful with predictions of how much deuterium can be retained and at which depth in the metal.
How did you end up applying for an ERG grant?
After my PhD I knew I wanted to stay in fusion and learn more about the physics involved. I’ve been in the field for six years now and I want to deepen my understanding and explore new techniques. The ERG allows you to do just that. I was lucky enough to also receive a one-year national grant that I will use to prepare the groundwork like preparing samples; then my ERG kicks in next year and I can really take off.
Do you think the ERG grants are important?
I do! They let you focus on your research and delve deeper into topics that you only just started to explore before. They are also tailored to the fusion field, where you typically don’t have all the know-how or in-house facilities at your home institute. The ERG will let me travel to facilities across Europe and work with the experts there.
What are the steps you are most looking forward to?
One of the aspects of deuterium retention that I want to investigate is how this process interacts with the new technique of boronisation, which applies protective boron coatings on the insides of fusion machines. I hope to travel to Romania to learn about boron layers so I can study samples coated with this material. I also look forward to applying computational techniques to try and model and predict deuterium penetration.
Finally, do you have any advice for future applicants to an ERG / EEG?
Any post-doc grant is an opportunity to choose a topic that you are excited about and want to dive into. It is a personal choice based on more experience and with more freedom than applying to a predefined PhD. So, use that freedom and propose research that is important and that you feel passionate about!
The EUROfusion Bernard Bigot Researcher Grants offer early-career researchers the opportunity to develop innovative ideas and techniques to advance EUROfusion's Roadmap to Fusion Energy.
Finnfusion coordinates Finland's contribution to European fusion research.
The interview was published on the EUROfusion website in December 2024.