Dimitris Papadakisis a PhD student working under the framework of the European Consortium for the Development of Fusion Energy (EUROfusion), at the Fusion Technology Group (FTG) of the Institute of Nuclear and Radiological Sciences and Technology, Energy and Safety of NCSR “Demokritos”, since 2019.

As part of his doctoral thesis entitled “Study of the effects of annealing to the mechanical and structural properties of neutron irradiated tungsten materials with applications in fusion technology”, he investigates the effects of annealing on the mechanical, electrical and structural properties of tungsten materials irradiated with neutrons in a fission reactor. The correlation of these properties with the evolution of defects during annealing will contribute to the understanding of the underlying phenomena behind the physical processes of neutron irradiation and annealing, as well as assist in the technological development of plasma facing materials. For the above purposes, he utilizes methods such as Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy, optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) for the study of the structural properties, as well as indentation, impulse excitation and DC resistivity for the study of mechanical and electrical properties of the materials.

In 2017, he received his BSc in Physics and in 2019 his MSc in Materials Physics from the Department of Physics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (UoA). His PhD thesis will be defended at the Physics Department of UoA.