Abstract
The results of a collaborative development activity aimed to the realization of multi-cell detectors based on monolithic SDD pixel technology will be described. Two kind of detection ...systems, skilled for the light lines at synchrotrons, have been brought to high levels of finalization and integration; a 64 cells detection system dedicated to absorption spectroscopy (XAFS) and a 32 cells detector for the X-ray microscopy (TwinMic). The main targets of this effort, led in a tight collaboration with the beam lines scientists, were large sensitive area, high rate capabilities, state of the art efficiency and energy resolution. The aim is to reduce the beam time demand for each single measurement while delivering a cutting edge analytical power.
All basic elements of those detection systems, from the detector’s design and production to the front-end and read-out electronics including the final engineering of the integrated system were customized to the specific use addressed.
The direct detection of high-energy cosmic rays up to the PeV region is one of the major challenges for the next generation of space-borne cosmic-ray detectors. The physics performance will be ...primarily determined by their geometrical acceptance and energy resolution. CaloCube is a homogeneous calorimeter whose geometry allows an almost isotropic response, so as to detect particles arriving from every direction in space, thus maximizing the acceptance. A comparative study of different scintillating materials and mechanical structures has been performed by means of Monte Carlo simulation. The scintillation-Cherenkov dual read-out technique has been also considered and its benefit evaluated.
Given the good performances in terms of geometrical acceptance and energy resolution, calorimeters are the best suited detectors to measure high energy cosmic rays directly in space. However, in ...order to exploit this potential, the design of calorimeters must be carefully optimized to take into account all limitations related to space missions, due mainly to the mass of the experimental apparatus. CaloCube is a three years R&D project, approved and financed by INFN in 2014, aiming to optimize the design of a space-borne calorimeter by the use of a cubic, homogeneous and isotropic geometry. In order to maximize detector performances with respect to the total mass of the apparatus, comparative studies on different scintillating materials, different sizes of crystals and different spacings among them have been performed making use of Monte Carlo simulations. In parallel to this activity, several prototypes instrumented with CsI:Tl cubic crystals have been constructed and tested with particle beams (muons, electrons, protons and ions). Both simulations and prototypes showed that the CaloCube design leads to a good particle energy resolution (< 2% for electromagnetic showers, < 40% for hadronic showers) and a good effective geometric factor (> 3:5 m2 sr for electromagnetic showers, > 2:5 m2 sr for hadronic showers). Thanks to these performances, in 5 years of operation it would be possible to measure the ux of electrons+positrons up to some tens of TeV and the uxes of protons and nuclei up to some units of PeV/nucleon, hence extending these measurements by at least one order of magnitude in energy compared to the experiments currently operating in space.
The direct measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum, up to the knee region, is one of the instrumental challenges for next generation space experiments. The main issue for these measurements is a ...steeply falling spectrum with increasing energy, so the physics performance of the space calorimeters are primarily determined by their geometrical acceptance and energy resolution. CaloCube is a three-year R&D project, approved and financed by INFN in 2014, aiming to optimize the design of a space-born calorimeter. The peculiarity of the design of CaloCube is its capability of detecting particles coming from any direction, and not only those on its upper surface. To ensure that the quality of the measurement does not depend on the arrival direction of the particles, the calorimeter will be designed as homogeneous and isotropic as possible. In addition, to achieve a high discrimination power for hadrons and nuclei with respect to electrons, the sensitive elements of the calorimeter need to have a fine 3-D sampling capability. In order to optimize the detector performances with respect to the total mass of the apparatus, which is the most important constraint for a space launch, a comparative study of different scintillating materials has been performed using detailed Monte Carlo simulation based on the FLUKA package. In parallel to simulation studies, a prototype consisting in 14 layers of 3 x 3 CsI(Tl) crystals per layer has been assembled and tested with particle beams. An overview of the obtained results during the first two years of the project will be presented and the future of the detector will be discussed too.
Recent years have seen an "explosion" in the abilities of scientists to use neuroscience in new domains. Unfortunately, it is little known and reported on how advertising companies make more ...effective pharmaceutical drugs commercials. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how neuromarketing techniques may impact the consumer response to pharmaceutical advertising campaigns. The result shows that using neuromarketing methods a pharmaceutical company can better understand the conscious and unconscious consumer's thoughts and tailor specific marketing messages.
CaloCube is an R&D project borne to develop a novel calorimeter design, optimized for high-energy cosmic ray measurements in space. A small prototype made of CsI(Tl) elements has been built and ...tested on particle beams. A final version, made of 5×5×18 crystals and with dual readout (two photodiodes for each crystal), to cover the full required dynamic range, is under construction and will be tested at CERN SPS in Summer 2016. The dual readout compensation technique were developed and the feasibility to extract Čerenkov signals from CsI crystals verified.
A 7.24 × 12.03 cm2 sensor, Silicon Drift Detector (SDD), has been developed for the enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry (eXTP) mission of the Chinese Academy of Science, with a large contribution ...by a European consortium inherited from the ESA-M3 LOFT mission study. In the frame of the project X-ray Observatories (XRO), active in the National Scientific Commission 2 of the INFN, we report the details of the qualification procedure to select from the mass production the 640 sensors that will equip the Large Area Detector (the eXTP instrument dedicated to the X-ray spectroscopy in the range 2-30 keV), with energy resolution below 240 eV FWHM at 6 keV during the entire mission duration of at least 5 years. This stringent requirement dictates the need to thoroughly verify the characteristics of each single sensor before integration in the final layout. We describe the dedicated testing facilities that have been developed. We report on the detector selection criteria and test results obtained in the pre-series production.
After the manufacture and delivery of a state-of-the-art detection system for the XRF-XAFS beamline of the synchrotron light source SESAME, a new and improved detection system was realized. This new ...multichannel modular detection system based on Silicon Drift Detectors consists of 8 monolithic multipixel arrays, each comprising 8 SDD cells with a total area of 570 mm2. As the previous one, this 64 channels integrated detection system includes ultra-low-noise front-end electronics, dedicated acquisition system, digital filtering, temperature control and stabilization. With respect to the SESAME version, the new instrument implements a tungsten collimation system yielding a total collimated sensitive area of 500 mm2. Optimized to work in an energy range of 3–30 keV, the system shows an overall energy resolution (sum of its 64 cells) below 180 eV FWHM at the 5.9 Mn Kα line at room temperature. We highlight the system performance and in particular the peak to background ratio, before and after the collimation of the sensors.
Direct observation of cosmic rays nuclei is currently limited to energies of the order of hundreds of TeV. In order to extend these observations to higher energies, detectors capable of operating in ...space with high geometric factor and energy resolution are needed. In particular, highly performing calorimeters based on the CaloCube design can allow to carry out cosmic ray measurements in the PeV energy region. The CaloCube R&D project foresees the installation in space of a homogeneous and isotropic calorimeter composed of cubic scintillator crystals arranged to form a cube of about tons weight, with a high acceptance and capable of detecting particles coming from any direction. A prototype, composed of 5 × 5 × 18 CsI(Tl) crystals, has been tested on high-energy particle beams at CERN SPS accelerator and the results relative to the calorimeter response to protons are reported in this document.
SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Application in the Middle East) is a “third-generation” synchrotron light source. The Middle East’s first major international research centre, ...established as cooperative venture by the scientists and governments of the region, is situated in Jordan. On the basis of the agreement signed between INFN and SESAME, our collaboration has designed and is building a Fluorescence Detector System based on 64 SDDs, each having a 9 mm2 non-collimated sensitive area, realized with eight monolithic arrays for a total collimated sensitive area of 499 mm2. The instrument will be used at the beamline dedicated to x-ray absorption spectroscopy in the energy range 3–30 keV with the capability of reaching a maximum counting rate of at least 3.2 Mcps. The energy resolution required for this application is below 150 eV FWHM @5.9 keV. We plan to have the system completely operative by July 2018. We report on the main building blocks of this system, dedicated to SESAME, and describe the experimental performances measured in the lab and on the XAFS beamline of ELETTRA Sincrotrone Trieste, Italy. In the very first tests the system was successfully operated up to 8 Mcounts/s. The energy resolution below 150 eV @5.9 keV was measured using a 1.6μs peaking time with the detector cooled to 10 °C.
•Novel spectroscopic system for XAFS beamlines features 64 SDDs.•Each SDD has a 9 mm2 non-collimated sensitive area.•The energy resolution is below 150 EV FWHM @5.9 kEV using 1.6 us peaking time.•The Output Count Rate of the complete system results in 8 Mcounts/s.
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