The CYGNO project aims to study rare events, as low-mass (few GeV) Dark Matter (DM) particle or solar neutrino interactions, exploiting the approach of the optical readout of the scintillation light ...produced in the amplification in a multiple Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) structure, of the primary ionization originated in large volume Time Projection Chamber (TPCs).
The volume is filled with an He:CF4 gas mixture at atmospheric pressure. The 3D topology, and therefore direction of the recoils, is reconstructed thanks to the combined use of high-granularity, high sensitivity sCMOS cameras, for the precise tracking of the projection of the recoils on the GEM plane, and of fast light sensors in order to obtain the coordinate perpendicular to the camera plane.
To conclude the R&D phase, the 50 L prototype, called Long Imaging ModulE (LIME), was moved underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in order to study the performance of the CYGNO experimental approach in a low background environment and to assess the contributions to the background from different sources, also comparing with Monte Carlo simulations.
Stability studies and the effects of environmental condition on the light yield will be discussed, focusing on the effect of humidity on the detector response and stability amount and rate of self-sustaining micro-discharges. This is a crucial step towards the development of a large demonstrator.
•A TPC filled with a gas mixture based on light atoms as target.•The combined usage of PMTs and sCMOS camera enables the 3D tracks reconstruction.•Studies on the effects of environmental condition on the light yield.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
32.
Single photon detection with the multi-anode CLAS12 RICH detector Contalbrigo, M.; Aaron, E.; Balossino, I. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2020, Volume:
952
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The first module of the hybrid-optics large-area CLAS12 RICH at JLab has been recently put into operation using for the first time the well known Hamamatsu H8500 MAPMT and the new single-photon ...dedicated H12700, for a total of about 400 MAPMTs and 25000 pixels. The photon detector must efficiently detect single photons in the visible and near-UV light region, provide a fast response for background rejection and pattern recognition, and have a spatial resolution of less than 1 cm over an area of ≈ 1 m2.
Each front-end readout unit is composed of three electronic boards with specific tasks directly connected to groups of 2 or 3 sensors. The core of the readout is composed of MAROC3 and FPGA chips. The MAROC3 chip is able to discriminate the 64 signals from one MAPMT and to produce 64 corresponding binary outputs with 100% efficiency starting at a small fraction of the single-photon signal, while the FPGA chip provides 1 ns TDC capability with 8 μs maximum latency and acts as a DAQ controller. The system is designed to be almost dead-time free at the foreseen 20 kHz CLAS12 trigger rate. The best working conditions for single-photon detection have been studied at laser stands, test beams, and with the JLab electron beam data. A report of the photon detector preparation, commissioning and operation is here discussed.
•Single-photon detection with cutting-edge multi-anode and silicon photo-sensors.•Tessellated readout system for single-photon detection at sub-cm spatial resolution.•Flexible architecture for easily adaptation to various sensors, geometries and setups.•100% efficient discrimination capability down to few fC single-photon signals.•Almost dead-time free parallel digitalization with better then 1 ns time resolution.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Geometric beam coupling impedance of LHC secondary collimators Frasciello, Oscar; Tomassini, Sandro; Zobov, Mikhail ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2016, Volume:
810
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The High Luminosity LHC project is aimed at increasing the LHC luminosity by an order of magnitude. One of the key ingredients to achieve the luminosity goal is the beam intensity increase. In order ...to keep beam instabilities under control and to avoid excessive power losses a careful design of new vacuum chamber components and an improvement of the present LHC impedance model are required. Collimators are among the major impedance contributors. Measurements with beam have revealed that the betatron coherent tune shifts were higher by about a factor of 2 with respect to the theoretical predictions based on the LHC impedance model up to 2012. In that model the resistive wall impedance has been considered as the dominating impedance contribution for collimators. By carefully simulating also their geometric impedance we have contributed to the update of the LHC impedance model, reaching also a better agreement between the measured and simulated betatron tune shifts. During the just ended LHC Long Shutdown I (LSI), TCS/TCT collimators were replaced by new devices embedding BPMs and TT2-111R ferrite blocks. We present here preliminary estimations of their broad-band impedance, showing that an increase of about 20% is expected in the kick factors with respect to previous collimators without BPMs.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
The Time Projection method is ideal to track low kinetic energy charged particles, in particular for the study for Dark Matter interactions. With this technique we aim to readout large volumes with a ...moderate number of channels providing a complete 3D reconstruction of the tracks within the sensitive region. The total released energy and the energy density along the tracks can be both measured allowing for particle identification and to solve the head–tail ambiguity of the track. Moreover, in gas, nuclear recoils induced by a Dark Matter particle scattering can yield tracks long enough for its direction to be inferred. We describe here a prototype TPC with a GEM amplification stage. The readout is based on the detection of the light produced in the GEM with a high granularity sCMOS sensor in conjunction with a photomultiplier. The prototype was exposed to γ and neutron source and to minimum ionizing particles, obtaining very promising results in terms of detection efficiency, energy resolution and particle identification.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
35.
50 litres TPC with sCMOS-based optical readout for the CYGNO project Mazzitelli, G.; Domingues, F. Amaro; Baracchini, E. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
01/2023, Volume:
1045
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The CYGNO project aims at realizing a one cubic meter gaseous Time Projection Chamber (TPC) equipped with Scientific CMOS (sCMOS) commercial cameras to optically readout Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) ...to be operated at the underground of Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS).
The purpose of the project is to study the technology needed for a large size gaseous TPC (30–100 m3) operated at atmospheric pressure for the directional search of low mass O(GeV) dark matter and low energy (eg solar) neutrinos astronomy. The roadmap of the project foresees the underground operation of a 50 litres TPC prototype, called LIME, the largest TPC realized with this technology, fully equipped with copper and water shielding. LIME is equivalent to about a 1/20 of the CYGNO demonstrator and aims to validate: The construction materials, the Monte Carlo simulations, the data reconstruction and the particle identification performances at low energy threshold. LIME is under installation at the LNGS and it is supposed to start data taking at the beginning of 2022. The detector description and installation will be presented, as well as the overground performance and limitations that require underground characterization.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The first module of a Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector has been recently installed on the CLAS12 spectrometer at the Jefferson Laboratory (JLab) to provide the experiment with kaon identification in ...the momentum range between 3 and 8 GeV/c. The detector adopts a hybrid optics solution with aerogel radiator, light planar and spherical mirrors and highly-segmented photon detectors. We report here on the assembly and installation of the RICH and we show the first preliminary results obtained during the commissioning of the detector and the first physics data taking.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Abstract The CYGNO collaboration is developing next generation directional Dark Matter (DM) detection experiments, using gaseous Time Projection Chambers (TPCs), as a robust method for identifying ...Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) below the Neutrino Fog. SF 6 is potentially ideal for this since it provides a high fluorine content, enhancing sensitivity to spin-dependent interactions and, as a Negative Ion Drift (NID) gas, reduces charge diffusion leading to improved positional resolution. CF 4 , although not a NID gas, has also been identified as a favourable gas target as it provides a scintillation signal which can be used for a complimentary light/charge readout approach. These gases can operate at low pressures to elongate Nuclear Recoil (NR) tracks and facilitate directional measurements. In principle, He could be added to low pressure SF 6 /CF 4 without significant detriment to the length of 16 S, 12 C, and 19 F recoils. This would improve the target mass, sensitivity to lower WIMP masses, and offer the possibility of atmospheric operation; potentially reducing the cost of a containment vessel. In this article, we present gas gain and energy resolution measurements, taken with a Multi-Mesh Thick Gaseous Electron Multiplier (MMThGEM), in low pressure SF 6 and CF 4 :SF 6 mixtures following the addition of He. We find that the CF 4 :SF 6 :He mixtures tested were able to produce gas gains on the order of 10 4 up to a total pressure of 100 Torr. These results demonstrate an order of magnitude improvement 1 in charge amplification in NID gas mixtures with a He component.
FOOT (FragmentatiOn Of Target) is an applied nuclear physics experiment conceived to conduct high-precision cross section measurements of nuclear fragmentation processes relevant for particle therapy ...and radiation protection in space. These measurements are important to estimate the physical and biological effects of nuclear fragments, which are produced when energetic particle beams penetrate human tissue.
A component of the FOOT experiment is the ΔE-TOF system. It is designed to measure energy loss and time-of-flight of nuclear fragments produced in particle collisions in thin targets in order to extract their charge and velocity. The ΔE-TOF system is composed of a start counter, providing the start time for the time-of-flight, and a 40 × 40 cm2 wall of thin plastic scintillator bars, providing the arrival time and energy loss of the fragments passing through the detector. Particle charge discrimination can be achieved by correlating the energy loss in the scintillator bars with the measured time-of-flight.
Recently, we have built a full-size ΔE-TOF detector. In this work, we describe the energy and time-of-flight calibration procedure and assess the performance of this system. We use data acquired during beam tests at CNAO with proton and 12C beams and at GSI with 16O beams in the energy range relevant for particle therapy, i.e., from 60 to 400 MeV/u. For heavy fragments (C and O), we obtain energy and time resolutions ranging from 4.0 to 5.2% and from 54 to 76 ps, respectively. The procedure is also applied to a fragmentation measurement of a 400 MeV/u 16O beam on a 5 mm carbon target, showing that the system is able to discriminate the charges of impinging fragments.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
This paper provides a summary of the first results obtained by the FINUDA Collaboration in the field of hypernuclear physics. They range from the spectroscopic study of several A-hypernuclei to the ...observation of some non-mesonic decay modes. Hints on rare hypernuclear two-body decays, on neutron-rich hypernuclei and on deeply-bound kaonic nuclei are also reported.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
In spring 2003 the FINUDA detector was installed at the
ϕ factory DAΦNE in the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati of INFN (Italy). In October 2003 the commissioning of the apparatus was accomplished ...and the first data taking started with a set of nuclear targets
6Li,
7Li,
natC,
27Al,
51V. The data collection will continue until a total integrated luminosity of
250
pb
−1
is recorded. Light and medium
A hypernuclei will be abundantly produced by the strangeness exchange reaction induced by the stopped
K
−
coming from the decay of
ϕ
(
1020
)
mesons.
The aim of the experiment is to simultaneously measure the excitation energy spectra of the produced hypernuclei, with a resolution better than 1 MeV, the lifetime of the
Λ embedded in the different hypernuclei and the partial widths
Γ
π
,
Γ
n
p
and
Γ
n
n
for mesonic and non-mesonic hypernuclear decays. Information on neutron-rich hypernuclei and rare hypernuclear two-body decays might be available too, with the statistics that will be collected at the end of the run.
In the present paper, first results concerning in-beam detector calibration, spectrometer performances and very preliminary hypernuclear formation and decay spectra will be presented.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK